We're All Going on a Host Club Holiday
by Xdemon-alchemistX
Summary: After an eventful year, the Host Club decide to go on a Summer-long tour of Europe. What awaits our favourite Holidaying Host Club? Because things sure aren't likely to go smoothly! Lots of TamaHaru! R&R!
1. London Part One

**Hi! I just wanted to write something nice and fun, after all the drama of the latest Ouran Chapters, I thought these characters needed a little R&R! (^_^) Besides, the majority of my TamaHaru fanfiction centres around just them. I wanted to write something that involves all the Host Club and their zany ways! As of this point, I don't know how long the story will be, but I know it'll be fun!**

**I hope you enjoy reading! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran! (^_^)**

We're All Going on a Host Club Holiday.

'Haru-chan! Haru-chan! Look! We're here!'

The excited cry that came from Honey-Sempai's mouth alerted me to something I already knew, but I smiled and nodded nonetheless. His excitement was definitely contagious, not that I wasn't happy to be going on holiday- especially all together. After all the drama, and excitement of the past year, we all deserved a break.

Though when I'd suggested going on a summer holiday I really should have known better. I had been thinking of somewhere like Kyoto or, at the most, Hokkaido. Honestly, I had forgotten just how carried away these clowns could get. So somehow (I honestly have no idea how) I had gone from the passing fancy of visiting Hokkaido with my friends for a few days or maybe a long weekend...

...to going on summer-long tour of Europe! Using the twins' private jet!

Thank goodness I had managed to get a passport in time or I think Tamaki might have died. The amount of time he had spent dancing about school, his home, my home and, on one disastrous incident where he fell into a tower of tinned soup, my local convenience store. I admit I was anxiously excited at my first time abroad. But my enthusiasm was nothing compared to Tamaki's, rambling on about how romantic it would be watching the sunset over the London Eye (I had no idea what the London Eye was, I just hoped it didn't involve an ACTUAL eye) and how excited he was to ride the world-famous red buses of England. How he wanted to see the Sistine Chapel in Rome and go skiing in the French Alps and- well I lost track of all the things he wanted to see and do. He really was an idiot.

But an idiot I loved nonetheless.

I turned to him, noticing how ridiculous he looked as he slept. Mainly because his face was half covered with one of those eye masks a stewardess had handed each of us at the beginning of the flight and his mouth was hanging open. As silly as he looked, I couldn't help but smile at my over-zealous boyfriend. After all, it felt nice, to be able to relax and see him so content- after all that had happened.

'Pssst, Haruhi.'

I looked over my shoulder to find the twins looming over my chair; the looks on their faces alerted my twins-are-about-to-create-havoc alarm.

'What?' I asked with a suspicious groan.

'Let's leave him here.' They whispered in my ear, clearly referring to the blonde-haired sleeping beauty snoozing next to me.

'Why on earth would I want to do that?' I replied with a roll of my eyes and a shake of my head, and the plane began to roll closer and closer to the gate. Whether I liked it or not, it occurred to me that there would be no end to the twins' crazy pranks. The thought was both comforting and exhausting.

'Oh come on Haruhiiii!' Hikaru whined

'Yeah, just imagine, it'd be so funny!' Kaoru said- a whimsical tone to his voice.

'No it would not be funny.' Came the voice of Kyoya from somewhere at the front of the plane, proving once more that he was some kind of supernatural being. Or that he had bugged the plane so he could keep an eye on the two demons that were frozen above me in shock. 'Clearly you two have no idea of the amount of security in effect at these airports. They don't much care for tom-foolery. And neither do I for that matter. So I'd ask you both to, for once, be on your best behaviour. At least until we're out of the airport.'

But as we finally rolled into the gate and the fasten seatbelt sign came off Tamaki woke up with a start, his mask comically askew, effectively ending any prank the twins had decided to play on him anyway. And so I sighed with relief that I wouldn't have to put up with any kind of security-related incident. Turning to the sleepy leader of our gang, I smiled shyly, excitement bubbling in my chest as he grinned dozily back at me and the voice of the upper-class captain echoed about the plane.

'This is your captain speaking, welcome to London, the time is now six P.M and, though it's summer, there's still a bit of a chill- so jackets and cardigans are suggested! We hope you have a wonderful trip!'

After we had gone through passport control and baggage claim the twins, Tamaki and Huni-Sempai insisted on ordering black cabs to the hotel, and I must admit there was something quite interesting about those oddly shaped cars that looked far larger on the inside than they did on the outside. Though they weren't big enough to hold all of us, so there I was, sharing a taxi with Tamaki and Kyoya. This was quite interesting, considering every three seconds Tamaki would point out something 'fascinating' (this started with the rabbits that hung around the green areas of the airport) and Kyoya would point out facts about the area. Facts that I knew anyway, considering I read a studied a guide to England before I left.

'Haruhi, Haruhi! Look! Look at that! Look at all those lights! How amazing is that?' Tamaki yelled excitedly pulling me towards his window so hard that he almost dislocated my arm.

'Oh!' I gasped, as we drove around a large roundabout full of traffic that almost rivalled Tokyo. 'It's Piccadilly Circus, I read about it in the tour guide. Those lights never go off, even in the daytime.'

'Really?' He replied pressing his face against the glass. 'There's a circus here? Oh we have to go! I want to see the trapeze artists and fire eaters!'

'It's not an actual circus Tamaki; it's just what they call the area.' I replied trying not to laugh at the disappointed look on his face. 'It's the same with another place in London called Oxford Circus.'

'Well they shouldn't call it a circus, if it's not a circus. That could get confusing!' He argued, his eyes still not leaving the large lit-up moving signs even as we drove past them.

'Yes, as I'm to understand it, London is filled with angry confused performance artists.' Kyoya replied from the front seat. 'Anyway we're almost at the hotel, which is good because we have a table reserved in the dinner in a couple of hours. We need time to get dressed.'

'What's wrong with what we're wearing now?' I asked frowning. I knew the Ritz was a fancy hotel, of course it would have to be but did we need to dress like we were going to a ball?

According to Kyoya we did. 'Haruhi, The Ritz is one of the most prominent, highest rated hotels in the world. It is considered a London landmark and as such, has very high standards. And that includes a strict no-jeans dress code.'

'But I don't have anything formal to wear, even after my dad repacked.' I blinked, a little surprised and slightly worried.

'The twins had some of their mothers latest gowns shipped over for you to wear.'

Somehow this wasn't as comforting to me as Kyoya expected it to be.

'Oh we're here.' Kyoya continued as we stopped outside the pretty, soft lit hotel. The front of which was separated by three archways, each had signs saying either 'Ritz Hotel' 'Ritz Restaurant' or 'Ritz Club' over them in huge sparkling letters. The other four were waiting for us underneath the Hotel sign and, as we met up with them (after I managed to drag Tamaki away from the pretty lights) Kyoya spoke again. 'By the way, since it was such short notice, the signature suites were all taken, but I suppose that's all for the best, since now we each have our own rooms. We still managed to book a Piccadilly Suite each, which was a bit of a feat considering how sought after the rooms are.'

This was all starting to make me dizzy. Fancy hotels, expensive suites, dress codes and glittering lights-

All I wanted to do was go to Hokkaido.

But, I wasn't going to complain about the needless expense. They all seemed too happy and upbeat, so much so that it was hard to think about how I would have been happy with a simple cheap day trip. And I was pretty much used to them getting carried away by now-

I guess I'd come a long way, both literally and figuratively.

After we'd checked in, me with my one large suitcase paling in comparison to the million bags the rest of the club had come with (did they think we were moving here or something?), and I'd gotten my own key card, a suited man came over to me- smiling- and asked me, _in fluent Japanese_ if I needed help with my bag. I gaped and nodded with thanks as he took my luggage off me and before I knew it, all the bags had disappeared and I could finally see the hotel lobby.

I walked around, staring at the grand staircase and the circular room we were all in, with insane amounts of white and pink flowers in large ornate vases, the plush red rugs and the white marble walls.

_If this was just the lobby I wonder how fancy my room is?_

'I'm being shown to my suite now, but I'll pick you up for dinner in an hour ok?' Tamaki came up to me with a warm smile which made my heart flutter in a way that I still wasn't used to.

I blushed and nodded 'okay.'

He looked down at me for a few moment, as if he were debating something, and quickly kissed my cheek before hurrying away, but not fast enough to notice how red his face had gotten. It probably matched my own. After all, though we had been officially dating for a few months now, and had confessed our love for each other, we still weren't used to public displays of affection.

I was interrupted from my musings when two pairs of arms wrapped around my shoulders, and a feeling of utter dread sunk in.

'Hey Haruhi.' Hikaru whispered in my ear.

'What now?' I asked, I was tired, I think the term was jet-lagged, and I just wanted to nap before dinner. I didn't want to have to listen to the twins' evil ideas.

'We have a surprise for you.' Kaoru explained whispering in my other year.

'Oh great.' I replied flatly. 'Do I even want to know what it is?'

'Hmm well someone's certainly ungrateful aren't the Hikaru?' Kaoru replied as they both continued their mirror act, this time stepping in front of me, looking saddened and shaking their heads.

'Yes, we're arranging a makeover for you at the Ritz Salon-'

'-Out of the goodness of our hearts-'

'-And you act so heartless towards us-'

'-All we did was care-'

Before they got the tissues and violins out, I sighed and shook my head 'ok guys, knock it off. Thank you for the makeover, and the whole outfit thing. I'm grateful, really, but I don't think I need it.'

'Haruhi, Haruhi, Haruhi' the twins said simultaneously, as they replaced their arms around my shoulders 'ah sweet, naive Haruhi, we've already booked the Salon privately for you to use for half an hour.'

'Eh?'

'They don't usually open in the evenings, but they opened specifically for you. In fact, here come your maids now.'

'EH?'

'Have fun!' They waved as I was ushered to the nearby elevators and I found myself thinking that, if I wasn't in such a fancy hotel, the twins would have been receiving death threats right now.

My suite was twice the size of my apartment. And a million times more expensively furnished.

I gazed in wonder at the soft carpets, the flowery extra-cushioned chairs and sofas, the cream marble fireplace with the gold embellishments along the walls, the tiny mahogany coffee tables, the thickly draped curtains. The bed was plush and softer than a cloud, I had my own bathroom, with a gold-embossed bath, and two sinks. Why on earth did I need two sinks?

I moved to the window, shuffling in the floor-length dress the twins had provided me. The triple-glazing blocked out any noise from the traffic below, I saw a red bus drive past and instantly thought of Tamaki. How would he react when he saw me like this? The beauticians had done all these bizarre treatments on my face, my hands, and my hair. Things called exfoliation, a Renew Rose hand treatment, deep hair conditioning and styling. By the time they had finished, I barely recognised myself. I certainly looked better than I had ever done before.

It was a weird feeling, wondering if I looked good enough to see my boyfriend. Only a year ago I wouldn't have thought twice about how I looked. I stared at myself in the mirror. The person reflected had her cropped hair elegantly tousled, a pink rose pinned into it. Her makeup was very lightly added, only a light sheen of lip gloss and a tiny dusting of shimmery eye shadow. Her dress was, of course, a light baby pink- the twins' favourite colour for her for some reason. It was held up by two thin spaghetti straps. Elegant, but strangely simple for the twins. The top hugged the mirror-girls body softly before fanning out slightly when it reached the hips. The dress came with a matching gossamer wrap which was currently draped over the mirror-girls shoulders.

_Yup,_ I thought, shaking my head with disbelief_ I'm sure I won't be mistaken for a boy anytime soon...well I hope so I guess._

A knock at the door and my heart leapt into my throat. My nervousness surprised even myself and I ungracefully fumbled with the key card to my room with slightly trembling hands, trying to get it into the small clutch bag the twins had given me (which was also pink to match my already pinching heels- why couldn't they have just given me flats to wear?). I moved towards the door, reaching for the handle and noticed my hand was still trembling. At this I became a little angry with myself, what did it matter anyway- if he didn't like the way I looked tonight? There was another, more urgent sounding knock and, as I heard Tamaki's muffled worrying call of my name, I realised that I needed to get a hold of myself. I wasn't like one of our fan girl guests after all. Besides, even if I was dressed in a bin bag, I'm sure Tamaki wouldn't care.

Actually scratch that he'd probably start crying about how lonely and destitute I looked. Then make a reference to a soap opera or fairytale.

After another knock on the door- and a slightly more unsure sounding 'Haruhi- are you there?'- I grasped the door handle and threw back the door defiantly.

'Oh there you are Haruhi, I was starting to get wor...ried' I looked up at Tamaki, who still towered over me despite my heels. He was wearing a dark grey- almost black suit with a silvery-violet tie that brought out the colour of his eyes. I noticed that no matter what he did to his hair, some of those golden locks always fell into his eyes. I liked that.

'Um...hi' I said shyly when he didn't say anything else. He continued staring at me, his mouth open. I shuffled from foot to foot _I knew it was too much pink._

When he finally came to his senses, he coughed awkwardly 'Hi.'

I fumbled with my wrap, looking down at myself. Did I really look so silly that he was rendered speechless? Was I going to embarrass him? I frowned. After all, he embarrassed me on a regular- almost constant- basis. So what did it matter, really?

Still, I couldn't help the fact that my heart had sunk a little, since his reaction. Even as he offered me his arm and led me downstairs with a light blush dusting his cheeks.

The dinner went by without a hitch, though I wasn't used to seeing everyone dressed in suits. Our school uniform was smart for sure, but there was something odd about seeing everyone looking so...professional. They all looked good of course; some of the club suited the smart style perfectly, like Mori and Kyoya and of course Tamaki. But on others the suits looked strange, like Huni and especially the twins.

What was even more surprising wasn't the fact that everyone was dressed to the nines- or whatever that expression was- it was that everyone was acting so well. Even Hikaru and Kaoru seemed to realise that this was a place to behave. So there we sat, making idle chatter about school and what everyone was excited to see and do in London, where we'd be for three days before heading to Scotland. Hikaru mentioned something about a place called the London Dungeons. I didn't know what the London Dungeons were (it hadn't come up in my travel guide) and I was pretty sure I never wanted to know.

The odd thing was that Tamaki barely spoke to me throughout the night, but I caught him staring in between my disputes with the twins. By the end of the night, I was pretty disheartened and fed up. So much so I almost felt tears riling up in my throat. I couldn't believe it, how could I be feeling so vulnerable, just because my boyfriend didn't like the way I was dressing? Could I have been more stupid? Everyone else had complimented me, after all. Their opinions mattered to me.

Just, apparently, not as much as Tamaki's.

_How did this happen?_ I thought as Tamaki pretty much wordlessly escorted me back to my room- throwing asinine comments about the exquisite dinner service (his words not mine) and how he was looking forward to something or other. I nodded and agreed instinctively, not really listening. _How did I go from not caring what I looked like, not caring what anyone thought of me, to being so affected by one person's opinion of me? Especially when that person's such a total and complete idiot!_

At this point Renge's image popped into my head, dancing around and declaring with a high pitched squeal _'It's because he's your boooyfriend! It's because you fell in lo-ove!' _and I buried my head in my hands with a groan just as we reached my door.

'Haruhi?' Tamaki asked gently 'is there something wrong?'

'No' I lied looking up at him. He blushed and looked away, and I found myself becoming more irrationally fed up. He couldn't even look at me? Was it really that bad? So before he could say anything else- though he probably wasn't going to anyway- I pulled out my card key from my purse and said a curt goodnight, before slamming the door shut behind me.

I rested my back against the door and sighed, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to well up and just wanting to get out of this stupid dress and go to bed. Maybe it was because I was tired from travelling that I felt so emotional.

Just before I went to move away from the door there was a knock. I answered it, perplexed, wondering if it was the twins- finally giving up their facade and inviting me to take part in some annoying prank. Or to prank me.

Instead I once more came face to face with Tamaki.

'Is something wro-' I started but was cut off.

'Haruhi! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I didn't talk to you all evening! I didn't mean it! You must have thought I was ignoring you! I wasn't! It's just, seeing you...and you looked...and I didn't...'

'What are you saying?' I replied exasperatedly feeling a sudden headache coming on.

'Well, I was trying to tell you all night, I just didn't know how, I mean you just- you look really...well...you look so beautiful.'

I was pretty sure my jaw line hit the floor. 'Huh?'

'And I was trying to tell you, but every time I looked at you, you took my breath away and I couldn't say anything- and now you probably hate me and I'M SO SORRY!' He yelled the last part, gripping my shoulders with tears in his eyes.

'Shh! You idiot! Are you crazy? You'll wake everyone up!' I whispered grabbing his hands and taking them off my shoulders, but not letting go of them. 'Come on, let's go for a walk, if you want to scream your apologies, let's go somewhere you won't cause untold amounts of complaints.'

'So- um- you really think I look- you know- beautiful tonight?' I asked after we had spent a few moments in silence, walking down the streets back towards Piccadilly Circus. Because it was summer, although it was getting late, it was still only at that point of the evening where the sun was half-finished setting, and its light didn't meet certain places. The lights of Piccadilly glowed, the Cola sign at the top flashed and whizzed, making my tired eyes hurt. So I turned back to Tamaki with a tentative look.

He seemed to have gotten over his shyness after his initial outburst- and took my hand in his, looking at me in earnest. But that was Tamaki, his moods changed faster than an ice cream melts in the midday sun. It could be tiring at times but, as I'd become used to it, as I'd come to love him- I realised that his constant mood changing was almost...fun.

'I would never lie to you about something like that.' He said looking at me with warmth in his intriguing violet eyes. 'Haruhi, I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world. But tonight, you look even more beautiful than I've ever seen you.'

Heat rushed up to my face and the happiness I felt at what he said was more than I could express. So I squeezed his hand and replied 'really? Then- you're kind of weird.'

He chuckled 'Yeah but weird in an oddly enticing way right?' he grinned with his trademark Host Club wink. I laughed.

'No you're just weird.' We looked at each other for a few moments, smiling at each other, before Tamaki moved closer to me and I had to tilt my head back so that I could still see him. He leaned in and cupped a hand over my cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. The warmth that spread through my body, tickling my toes and making my brain go hazy, caused me to close my eyes and lean more closely into his touch as he lightly pressed his lips to my own. It was amazing, how one moment I could be so annoyed with him, the next second he could amaze me, and the next how all I wanted was for him to kiss me.

And that's when I realised, not only did I watch Tamaki's mood changes but I reacted to them, and changed my reactions to them as quickly as his mood switched. It wasn't something I planned; it was something that occurred naturally when I was with him.

Maybe we weren't the typical opposites-that-attract couple. Maybe I was more like him than I thought.

When we stopped kissing he rested his forehead against my own.

'I like your eyes.' I thought aloud. Then blushed when I realised I had actually said that. He gave a light laugh and beamed at me.

'You know, I read that there's a park near here, it's called St James' Park and you can see Buckingham Palace from there.'

And just like that, he was alight with his childish glee once again. 'Really? Oh I want to see Buckingham Palace! Where is the park?'

'It's down there, the road past the statue.' I gestured knowing where this was going before he grabbed my hand and dragged we in the direction I had pointed.

'Well come on then let's go!'

'Ah Tamaki, my dress!' I cried stumbling over the hem. Tamaki turned, lifted me up and carried me piggy-back style. And off we went, down the road full of cafes, and nightclubs where tourists were gathered. As we went past, they began taking photographs of the strange Japanese couple, impeccably dressed- one of them torn between crying out in protest and laughing hysterically, as she was carried by the Host Club King- who at that moment in time wanted nothing more than to see the Queen of England's house with his favourite commoner.

**And that's the first chapter! Please review, I'd love to hear feedback! I hope they were all in character! As you've probably guessed, Tamaki and Haruhi are a pretty new couple (I based this after recent events in the manga) so I thought they wouldn't be completely confident around each other in the romantic sense just yet, but they're getting there! I hope that came across, I want this to be believable XD so please review!**


	2. London Part Two

**Hi all! I'm back! Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, you guys are awesome, and if you have any particular places where you want the Host Club to visit, just let me know and I'll do my best to find a place for it! I hope you continue to enjoy this story! It's so much fun to write, especially as I've been to many of the places these guys are going, so I can use my own experiences (^_^) I hope it shows, I've tried to make it detailed without being boring.**

**Anyway here's chapter two of Host Club Holiday! (Disclaimer: I don't own the Host Club, nor do I own the Summer) enjoy!**

Chapter Two- London Part Two.

'Hikaru, Kaoru- seriously what is this place?' I asked with the tone I used whenever I suspected the twins were up to something. It was a tone I had perfected over time simply because I had used it so much. And I was using it then because, after relentless insisting from the twins (including waking us up in the morning with a fake emergency) we had all finally caved and agreed to visit the London Dungeons.

We all decided it would be best to get it over and done with as soon as possible, as none of us knew what exactly the London Dungeons were, but it sure didn't sound like a walk in St. James' Park. And so there we were, in an outside queue after a quick breakfast, right near London Bridge.

'It's like history come alive!' Kaoru exclaimed with a kind of manic grin that didn't ease my suspicions.

'Yeah, these people dress up in olden times cosplay and tell you about things that happened to the commoners in their time! Like the Great Fire of London, and Jack the Ripper!' Hikaru cried with equal enthusiasm, a mad glint in his eye.

'J- Jack the Ripper?' I felt Tamaki clutch my hand tighter and it was nice to know he'd had the same reaction as me. 'Who's Jack the Ripper?'

'Jack the Ripper is a man who roamed the streets murdering prostitutes in the Victorian era and to this day his identity is unknown. Although there are suspects, and many people have attempted to uncover the mystery- including my family's own police force.' Kyoya chimed in. And with every word he spoke, I felt myself wishing more and more that I hadn't eaten that second breakfast muffin.

'That sounds scary. Hika-chan, Kaou-chan, it isn't really scary is it? Can't we just go have cake instead?' Huni-Sempai asked hugging his pink bunny closer to him. Tamaki meanwhile, was holding my hand so hard it was starting to go numb.

'We've heard it's so much fun though! Besides we already got the tickets!' Kaoru argued with a pout. 'And it's not scary.'

'Yeah- unless you're a total wuss.'

'Yeah are you a total wuss Tono?'

_Oh no_ I thought as the twins rounded on an already paling Tamaki with big grins plastered on their faces. At their words though, he stood up straighter.

'No! Of course not!' He replied. I buried my head in my one free hand.

'Really? Because we think Haruhi would prefer someone who was brave and strong.'

'-Yeah you don't want to look like a coward in front of Haruhi do you?'

'Leave me out of this, guys!' I protested glaring at the two manipulative demons in front of me. But I knew it was too late. Tamaki had been completely swayed.

'Come on guys! Whether it's scary or not, we're the Host Club, we are not cowards- we are real men...and Haruhi.'

'Ugh.' Once again my head was back in my hands. And so I followed the marching band of idiots as we went through the big black double doors. I looked up at the large sign above the entrance where the words _'THE LONDON DUNGEONS' _in red lettering were portrayed as if written in fresh, oozing blood. From this sign alone I came to the conclusion that Tamaki would soon be eating his words.  
_

So we'd made it through several of the attractions already, and none of us had broken down yet- mainly because Mori-Sempai had told Huni-Sempai to keep his eyes shut unless otherwise instructed. It was kind of stupid, and personally I would have rather been sightseeing. At least at first it had seemed a little historical, being placed in realistic settings from the time of the Great Fire of London- where we had to try to uncover the mystery of how it started, and showing us real torture devices. It was even quite funny when a person they called The Torturer, who was a historical figure in charge of finding traitors, set on the twins and pretended to use a horrible device called the tongue-tearer on the 'mirror sinners'. Though as time went on it was fairly obvious that it was a little to do with history and more to do with scaring the crap out of people.

But, despite the fact that we were all kind of scared (except for Mori-Sempai and Kyoya-Sempai who, let's face it, acted like they were robots set onto cool mode all the time) we carried on. Tamaki's hand never left mine and it was starting to go numb again.

After the meeting with The Torturer, we went through a pitch black passage way which opened to a chamber of cobbled streets, mirrored after Victorian London. A dank smell reached my nostrils and the mist that hung in the air glowed an eerie blue. It all seemed so realistic, that goosebumps formed on my skin and- despite myself- I shivered.

Kyoya flicked on the Japanese audio-tour device as we walked through the seemly deserted streets whilst Mori put his giant hands over Huni-Sempai's ears. It spoke in chilling tones.

'Welcome to Whitechapel, 1888, a dark time in Victorian history, where a mysterious killer stalks the alleys and streets- preying on the women of the night. Walk the streets and see where victims fell prey to Jack the Ripper's deadly blade. But beware fellow Dungeon Dwellers, the killer was never caught. So who knows? He may be out there right now, watching...waiting...'

_Ok, ok, this is stupid. If he was Victorian, he'd be dead by now. Or so old he'd be too weak to lift a blade._ I tried to rationalise, but the atmosphere, the voice, and the fact that the semi-darkness meant my eyes were beginning to play tricks on me- all made my fear levels rise dramatically.

'D-don't worry Haruhi, I'll p-protect y-you.' Tamaki whispered in my ear, clearly trying to sound more confident.

'Y-yeah, J-Jack the R-Ripper only k-killed girls!' Hikaru replied, falling prey to the atmosphere also. 'S-so everyone k-keep an eye on Haruhi!'

'R-Right!' The rest of them nodded.

That would have been comforting, if they didn't look like they'd all wet themselves at a moving shadow.

We went through a stone archway which led to a claustrophobic, cluttered street with a sign saying Bakers Row, just visible through the mist. Blood was splattered on the walls and a plaque on the archway read 'here is the spot where Jack the Ripper's first victim was found.'

Kyoya turned on the audio-device again and once more the chilling voice filled the vicinity. 'Jack the Ripper's first victim was one Mary Ann Nichols, who was found here on Bakers Row after a night of drinking and debauchery. They say a criminal always returns to the scene of a crime yet so far this has yet to be true for Jack. But who knows? Maybe now he's lurking in the shadows, ready to strike once more at the place where he felled his first victim, lurking closer...and closer...and closer...'

Suddenly a black gloved hand slammed down on my shoulder. Whipping around by instinct, I came face to face with a huge figure in a dark cloak looming behind me, half hidden in the shadows- and in his hand, a giant blade dripping with blood. Jack the Ripper.

My heart slammed into my throat and I let out a scream that pierced the air. This set about a frenzy of screaming and crying from Huni-Sempai, Hikaru, Kaoru and especially Tamaki.

'HARUHI!' The King of the Host Club yelled and before anyone else could move, his fist was soaring into the jaw of Jack the Ripper.

'Get off of Haruhi, you evil murderer!' Hikaru yelled tackling the man in the black cloak. Kaoru jumped in for support whilst I stood rooted to the spot in horror. 'RUN TONO! GET HARUHI AND RUN!'

And before I knew it, Tamaki had grabbed me around the waist and we were practically flying back the way we came, passed all the chambers and passageways at such speeds they were practically a blur. We burst through the two front doors, into the blinding summer sun, and Tamaki set me down on a nearby bench, panting and gasping for air.

It took a few seconds of sitting in the clear light of day for the realisation (and then the dread) to set in.

'Oh no. That poor actor- getting punched and tackled like that... mind you, I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened, maybe it's an occupational hazard-'

'Haruhi!' Tamaki cried, cutting me off as he'd regained his breath. Kneeling down before me, he began checking me all over so frantically that passersby began to stare, no doubt wondering if there actually was something wrong with me. 'Are you ok? Did the Ripper hurt you?'

I sighed, taking his hands off my shoulders 'I'm fine, he wouldn't have hurt me anyway- it was just a scare tactic.'

'He had a blade! He would have killed you!' Clearly he was taking a longer time than me to recover from the initial shock.

'That was a prop. Tamaki, he wasn't really Jack the Ripper, it was just an actor. Think about it, the Ripper is dead now. He can't hurt anyone.' I explained gently, trying to cure my own nerves also- which hadn't quite subsided.

'Well actor or not, he was still threatening you-' he replied, his violet eyes impassioned as he sat down next to me.

'-Not really.' I pointed out flatly, wrinkling my nose as I did so. But still, I recognised he was on a tangent, so I gave up.

'-and I promised I'd protect you no matter what!'

Putting aside the fact that I felt bad about what happened, for the first time that day my heart leapt in a good way and I smiled despite myself.

'I just hope Kyoya can fix it.' I said resting my chestnut-topped head against his shoulder.

'Kyoya can fix anything.' Tamaki replied, his tone softening immensely, as if my head on his shoulder had rendered him instantly calm. I saved that information for later. It could come in handy. I chuckled.

'Yeah- that's true.' I agreed, suddenly becoming calm with him and I shifted closer to his. He smelled like fresh soap- the fancy kind- and something else. I wasn't sure what that something else was, but it was warm and comforting. It made me smile, and forget how foolishly scared I had been. It was weird- he didn't even have to say anything, he just had to be by my side and I felt better. I hadn't felt like that about...well about anyone, except my dad- and my mum when she was alive- but that was a completely different type of feeling better. I don't think I had _allowed_ myself to feel this way about anyone, but I'd changed a lot in the past few years. Now I found that it would feel even stranger not to feel this way, and an even greater truth hit me when I realised that I'd be lonely without these new feelings, lonely without him.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, in which we people-watched, the rest of the gang emerged from the Dungeons, unscathed. Though the twins wore hang-dog expressions and Huni-Sempai (clinging to Mori-Sempai's leg like a cat clings to a scratching post) looked like no amount of cake will ever cure him of the ordeal he had just gone through.

'Alright, luckily I managed to clear that mess up before they threatened to press charges.' Kyoya stated pushing his glasses further up his nose. 'But I think we're all decided, never go anywhere the twins suggest again, agreed?'

And we all did indeed agree, even Mori-Sempai said 'agreed, we're never trusting them again.'

'Oh come on guys! That's so unfair!' The twins cried out in protest, which went ignored by all of us.

'Well now that that's settled shall we all get some lunch?' Kyoya asked.

'Yeah, and then we can go sightseeing!' Tamaki replied leaping off the bench and taking me with him.

'I don't think I want to do anything else today.' Huni-Sempai mumbled shakily under his breath 'Takashi, can we go back to the hotel?'

'Mmm.' Mori-Sempai nodded.

'Yeah and Kaoru and I want to go see the House of Horrors at Madame Tussaudes. So we're going to go there.' Hikaru replied putting his hands in his pockets and scuffing the ground with his shoe, despondent that he couldn't get us to fall for anymore of his tricks.

'And I'm going to go back to the hotel and check our travel arrangements for the next few days.' Kyoya replied getting out his blackberry. Tamaki frowned.

'Ok then we all have to stay together tomorrow! All of us together- after all this is a holiday for the Host Club, we can't spend it apart!' He cried waving his arms dramatically.

So once we'd all decided what we were going to do, we made our way back to the hotel for some lunch before heading our own separate ways. Mori and Huni-Sempai for afternoon tea and cake at a famous restaurant called Fortnum and Mason (Huni's ability to always have room for cake would never cease to amaze me), Kyoya to check on our travel plans, Hikaru and Kaoru to the House of Horrors at Madame Tussaudes and Tamaki and I to Westminster.  
_

I was exhausted.

But exhausted in a good way. Tamaki had dragged me all around Westminster Abbey and Big Ben- taking thousands of pictures as he went and looking with respect at the peace protesters on the lawn of the House of Commons, He'd shrieked with delight when he heard the bell of the large clock tower ring and listened fascinated when I told him that many people didn't know that Big Ben wasn't the name of the clock tower itself, but the bell that rings inside it. Its real name was the Clock Tower of St Stephens, but everyone just calls it Big Ben.

'Haruhi you're so smart! My girlfriend is so smart!' He'd cried, throwing his arms around me, making passersby stare at us.

'Tamaki I can't breathe.' I had replied, my voice muffled.

After that, to Tamaki's endless joy, we had hopped onto a double storey red bus, which had taken us all the way to Trafalgar Square- which is where we were currently. The large square was centred with two giant, crystal clear fountains with matching lion statues. Right in the middle was a pillar taller than all the buildings surrounding it topped with a figure of a man wearing an olden time suit and a captain's hat. I flicked through my guide book and found that it was called Nelson's Column, a monument to Admiral Nelson- who was famous for winning the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

I was starting to really like London. It was full of so much interesting history and so many strange but fascinating landmarks. I wondered if all the cities we were visiting were going to be as interesting- and suddenly I was a lot more excited for this trip then I'd been before.

Although I hoped not all of Europe's monuments required me to look up, I was starting to get neck-ache.

'What's in there do you think?' Tamaki caught my attention by tugging my sleeve and gesturing towards the large roman-columned building at the other end of the square.

'That's the National Gallery, it's free to all visitors- do you want to check it out?' I asked.

'Sure! Looking at beautiful artwork, it sounds like fun! Maybe we can go to some more museums later on too?'

'Maybe we can do that tomorrow with everyone else?' I suggested with a smile. 'The others would like that; we all appreciate art in different ways I think.'

'Yeah I think you're right, ok we'll do some museum-tours tomorrow. I'll ask Kyoya to arrange it tonight. Anyway before we go in can I get someone to take a picture of us next to the fountain?' He asked me with such a puppy-dog look, I just shook my head with a grin and agreed with a chuckle.

Tamaki ran off to find someone to take our picture and I moved to a position next to one of the fountains which would ensure that we got a good view of ourselves and the area around us.

'Haruhi! Haruhi!' Tamaki called excitedly running towards me; followed by an amused looking middle-aged man with a suit and briefcase. 'This nice gentleman said he'd take our photo for us!'

What happened next was like a moment in which the stars aligned, fates crossed, time slowed down and heaps of other dumb clichés. As Tamaki ran towards me, a young toddler throwing a tantrum threw his banana peel out of his pram, straight into his path. He, of course, stepped right onto it and it sent him skidding straight towards me. It all happened so fast that I could only stare in shock as he came straight towards me, his arms flailing wildly, and slammed full-bodied into me, both of us flying backwards straight into the fountain.

I was submerged in the water for a few seconds, before bursting to the surface, standing up- the water cascading down me like an afternoon deluge. I blinked at Tamaki, who was stood next to me- equally soaked and equally shocked. He caught my eye as people around us stared-

-and the pair of us burst out laughing.

It was only after we'd gotten back to the hotel and into dry clothes that we saw the man had taken photos of us anyway. And I had to be honest, the photos of me and Tamaki- standing in the fountain at Trafalgar, covered in water and laughing our heads off, were certainly an original take on the typical touristy photos.  
***

**So what did you think? Reviews will be very much loved! :D**


	3. London Part Three

**Hi all! I'm back! Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far- you guys are pure awesomeness! Just to let you know that this is the final part of the London saga. I know, I know, we've all had fun, but they have the rest of Europe to discover people! :D**

**Also I wanted you to know that I am completely open for suggestions on where exactly they go! So come on! Let me know where you want them to visit in Europe (it can be a city like Barcelona or a more specific place like the Trevvi Fountain in Rome!) in a review and I'll do my hardest to include it in the story (^_^). And to proove that I'm not kidding, this entire chapter is dedicated to GodsLilBookWorm, my first reviewer on this story- who asked that the Host Club visit Stratford-Upon-Avon, as she's a big fan of Shakespeare! Well, GodsLilBookWorm, this is for you! I hope you enjoy, and I hope the rest of you do too! Now on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host Club! No siree.**

Chapter Three- London Part Three.

'Haruhi' An excited whisper tickled my ear and I moaned softly. 'Wake up we're almost there!'

I responded by slapping my arm up in the air and turned over in my sleep. In my dream haze, I heard someone yelling too loudly; complaining (too loudly!) that someone called 'SHE' had hit someone called 'ME!' _Did I hit someone? Oh well, they shouldn't have tried to wake me up. _But, despite my musings, I had now crossed that level of wakefulness which if reached makes true sleep impossible to reach again for a long time. So regretfully I opened my eyes, slowly getting used to the scene around me...

And when I realised where I was, I was wide awake.

'Um...guys?' I asked, genuinely baffled. 'Why am I in a limo and not, you know, in bed at the hotel?' I looked down at myself, expecting that they'd kidnapped me from my bed in my pyjamas. Instead, I found that I was dressed in a lacy white, long flowing summer dress that looked more suited to a sweet Lolita-style doll than to someone like me. My mouth dropped open 'AND WHO THE HECK DRESSED ME?'

'Calm down, we got one of the maids to do it.' Hikaru replied with a cool shrug, as if this wasn't a total violation of my privacy. I buried my head in my hand, feeling a headache coming on.

'Ok but where are we going?' I groaned, my voice muffled and my irritation-levels rising sharply. I knew the main reason for this when my stomach rumbled slightly, I very rarely missed breakfast. It automatically put me in a bad mood.

'Tama-chan found a really pretty town called Stratford-Upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born! So that's where we're going!' Huni-Sempai explained excitedly, bouncing up and down in his seat (Usa-Chan hopping merrily with him).

I looked at Kyoya with a plea in my eyes. He might have been a bit shady at times, but at least he always told me what was what. Discretion was something Kyoya saved only for customers after all.

'Well after everyone went to bed last night, I ran in to Tamaki by the pamphlet stand in the lobby, where he'd found a leaflet for Stratford-Upon-Avon. Being the lover of Shakespeare that he is, he said that we should all visit together. It seemed like a harmless idea, and it's only about two hours away from London- so I agreed. We rallied everyone early this morning.'

'Yeah and to top that off, we're going back to London tonight to see Twelfth Night at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Our mother was a friend of Sam Wanamaker- who helped rebuild the Globe before he died- so she was able to get us tickets on short notice.' Kaoru explained.

I couldn't help but smile at this. I'd read in a guide to England that Stratford was one of the most picturesque places to see, and I'd seen some amazing pictures of the River Avon. It was a beautiful summery day too, according to the weather report I'd tried to understand last night. So I had to agree that the idea was one of Tamaki's rare genius ones.

But, as I looked around at the others, I noticed something was amiss. Speaking of the Host Club King-

'Where is Tamaki?' I frowned.

'He's in the corner.' Kyoya gestured to a small gloom cloud in the far most corner of the limo and the crouched figure of my boyfriend- turned away from us in his depression. I raised an eyebrow. 'He went over there after you hit him and he hasn't moved since.'

_Oh_ I thought _so that 'SHE' was me. _I thought about apologising for a brief moment, but I was still waking up. And right now I had more pressing problems because, even though it was going to be embarrassing to ask, I thought of how mortified my dad would be if I didn't ask the particular question I had in mind. So I decided to swallow my pride.

'Umm... Hikaru, Kaoru?' I asked and when I'd caught their attention I looked down shyly 'Have you... brought more fancy dresses for me to wear?'

'Of course we have! We've brought hundreds of them!' Hikaru replied as if the very question was an insult.

'Why'd you ask anyway? I thought you hated girly stuff and only dressed up if you had no choice?' Kaoru asked and before he could imply that it was anything to do with a certain blonde (who was still sulking in the corner but had now turned his face slightly, his ears flexing in curiosity), I decided to cut him off.

'I never said I _hated_ dressing up. But...' I trailed off awkwardly again 'Well, it's my first time going to the theatre and...well... I thought I should look...you know...nice.' by now my cheeks was an embarrassing flush of tomato-red.

But that blush soon spread to my entire face when, after everyone (including Tamaki) stared at me in shock for a full five seconds, nearly the entire Host Club launched themselves onto me in one giant embrace. Through this confusion of hugging and squealing I caught things such as 'aw!' and 'Haru-Chan is so cute!' and 'Haruhi is so adorable!' I'm pretty sure I heard the word commoner thrown in there too for good measure.

_Damn these rich bastards! _I thought, wishing I'd just kept my mouth shut.

* * *

'Haaah.' I heard Tamaki sigh as he stood on the banks of the River Avon, lifting his face to his hand and generally revelling in the splendour of the dappled light through the trees, the pretty flowers blossoming along the river bed, the couples in row boats reading poetry to each other as the drifted down river. He hadn't noticed me approaching yet and it was quite nice, to watch him be so relaxed and content. If there was only one thing in the world that could calm Tamaki down, it was beauty like this.

'It's like something from a painting isn't it?' I remarked coming to stand next to him. He turned to me, mouth poised to agree, when his eyes widened.

'Haruhi!' He cried 'You look so cute!'

I blinked looking down at myself. 'I do?' The sweet-Lolita doll type dress had seemed a little silly to me at first, but it was actually quite practical. The fabric was light and easy to move around in, perfect for a typical sunny day like this- I was actually surprised by the Twins.

Although I did think the matching parasol was a bit much. But the Twins had insisted that I had delicate skin that shouldn't stay in the sun for too long. I wasn't too sure what that meant, but after having breakfast at quaint little cafe called a 'Tea Room' I was in too good of a mood to argue.

Tamaki nodded fervently. 'You look like you fit in here perfectly.'

I smiled and slipped my hand into his, squeezing it in thanks. 'It is beautiful, I wish we could stay here longer- you know- explore more.'

'Maybe we can come back here for our honeymoon.' Tamaki replied obviously before he knew what he was saying. He froze suddenly, his eyes wide. Our eyes met and both of us began turning even redder than I had been in the limo. My heart betrayed me by performing a series of acrobatics in my chest.

'H-Honeymoon?' I choked.

'Ah that's not what I- I didn't mean- I just meant- I mean...well not right now.' Tamaki stuttered, flapping his arms in a clear sign of his distress. 'But, one day, when we get married. It would be nice to come here.'

Suddenly my heart stopped its acrobatics, his words- though slightly stuttered and nervous- were so honest and true that something else filled my heart that was hard to describe. It was like being tickled with a feather or something weird like that. I brought my hand to my chest subconsciously, my blush subsiding slightly but still there.

'So- we're going to get married one day?' I asked tentatively, looking up at Tamaki to find that his blush was also fading after the initial shock of his slip. But he was looking at me with those violet, warm eyes. That expression that always made me shiver, that made me want to run and hide and at the same time never look away, that expression that Tamaki teasingly called 'my weakness'.

'Of course we are.' He replied simply, still holding my hand.

'...I like that.' I answered in a voice so small it was almost a whisper. It, like Tamaki's comment, slipped out before I'd even realised it. But after I said it, I knew that it was the truth. I couldn't believe it, I wasn't the type of person to dream of getting married or planning a fancy wedding like pretty much all of our guests at the Host Club. But at the same time, I'd deep down believed all along (or at least after I'd realised that I'd fallen in love with him) - that we'd get married some day. A part of me thought it was stupid; we were young. And how many young loves lasted in this world? But that part of me was slowly crumbling into a million cynical pieces with each passing second that Tamaki looked at me and I couldn't help but think that if he was certain of our future together, then I was too.

And so I smiled at him, just as he was smiling at me, and we kissed under the shade of the willow tree- as couples in their rowboats continued to go by, each wrapped up in their own romantic universe. And I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that Shakespeare's magic could still work so many centuries after his death.

* * *

The day was spent visiting historical landmarks, such as Shakespeare's birthplace. A half-timbered house in the Tudor style, which contained a large exhibition on Shakespeare's life and many different texts and books including an original Shakespearean manuscript. Kyoya translated, for those of us who's English still wasn't perfect, the little facts written on stands. We stood fascinated, whilst Tamaki pranced around quoting Shakespearian lines to suit the occasion- truly in his element.

After Shakespeare's Birthplace we visited the Anne Hathaway cottage, a tiny cottage almost completely covered in a massively ornate garden covered in roses, lavender, lupine's, and other pretty flowers I didn't recognise. Although before we went in, Tamaki secretly stole one of the Peonies and placed it in my hair- because he said it matched my cute look. We took photos by the house and in the garden, but we weren't allowed to take any inside (despite the Twin's attempts to sneakily do so). But to be honest, there seemed barely enough room for all of us to move, let alone raise a camera and take a photo. I, being short, was fine. But others like Tamaki, Kyoya and especially Mori-Sempai had to duck around all of the buildings. By the end of the day- Tamaki was complaining loudly about his aching shoulders, Kyoya kept rubbing his neck with a frown and even Mori-Sempai was rolling back his shoulders more than usual.

Once we were back in the limo however, and able to relax our tourist-tired muscles, talk began to get more animated. Both about the nice day we'd just had, what great photos were taken and how much everyone was looking forward to the theatre that night. Meanwhile, I began to feel the effects of all the food I'd eaten and all walking I'd done- plus the brief moment of stress from being practically kidnapped early on in the morning. So eventually I fell into a light sleep- waking up only when we reached the hotel.

'All right I made reservations for dinner at Petrus in an hour and a half, which means we all have an hour to get ready.' Kyoya said looking at his watch, then pushing his glasses further up his nose. After this we all went to our separate rooms, apart from the Twin's and myself- who'd grabbed my attention.

'I'm not going to have to go back to that spa again am I? Those salon girls were too cheery- it was creepy.' I asked with a groan.

'Hmm? Oh no.' Kaoru denied with a shrug of his shoulders than glanced to where Hikaru was standing 'we just decided that, because you wanted to dress up nicely of your own accord-'

'-and you gave us such a heartfelt speech about this being your first theatre experience-' Hikaru continued as they both got their handkerchiefs out and blew their noses simultaneously.

'-that we'd let you pick out your own dress to wear.' Kaoru finished, and the identical looks of honour on their faces made it seem like they were entrusting me with the secret to life, the universe and everything. I raised my eyebrows.

'Um no that's ok; you can pick it out for me. I don't really care what kind of dress it is. As long as it looks nice it doesn't matter.'

Apparently I'd said the wrong thing, as they both looked at me like I'd just turned down the recently offered answer to life, the universe and everything.

'Oh no, no, no. This won't do at all!' Kaoru cried shaking his head as if he suddenly had suffered with a chronic migraine.

'Haruhi you are the most unenthusiastic heroine we've ever met! What kind of a girl lets their friends pick a dress for them, when they had a choice to choose their ideal one out of a huge collection? No! This won't do! You're lack of enthusiasm will no longer stand.'

I gave them an incredulous look. 'First of all, that's stupid. Not all girls are into fashion. Secondly, you guys are way better at knowing what suits me than even I am- because you _are_ into fashion. Why should I have to pick when I know I have a better chance of screwing up than you two are?'

At that instant I knew I'd said the wrong thing, as the two looked at each other- and their trademark demonic grins stretched across their gleeful faces.

'So that's it, is it?' They both asked in low, creepy voices.

'Is what it?' I replied warily, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

'You're _scared_ of picking out the wrong thing and looking like an idiot-' Hikaru explained.

'-Because you don't know enough about fashion.' Kaoru finished smugly.

'I am not scared of fashion! But you're right, I don't know enough to make a good decision, hey- hey where are you guys taking me? Hey! Stop! Let me go! Come on this isn't funny! I've got to get dressed!' I cried as they dragged me back to their hotel room, promising that by the time we were to meet up with everyone else- I'd know exactly what type of dress suited me and why.

Personally, I think I would have preferred another trip to the spa. Having my face and hands prodded and poked for half an hour definitely sounded like the better alternative. But it turned out that it wasn't that bad. Hikaru and Kaoru, in the space of about five seconds- had decided to make me their protégée in all things fashion. But they told me it would take me years in understanding everything, so they'd ease me into it at first. Their first point of teaching would be the different styles of evening gown.

All I wanted to do was to look nice for one evening. I should have known nothing is ever that simple in the Host Club. Everyone has to turn everything into a mission. Including myself.

They sat me down on the edge of one of their beds, bringing out a rack of different styled dressed and explained to me that there were basically seven different styles of evening gown- without going too far into specifics, they showed me each style individually and explained and showed the features of each one. Surprisingly, I wasn't bored, the Twins had made it more formal- like the classes back in Ouran- and there were few things I liked more than studying. And it was clear they were passionate in what they were saying. They told me the ones that were more appropriate for dinner and theatre goings and which were more suited to balls and parties- but this to me was just common sense. By the end of their mini-lecture, I'd found out which styles suited me best, and was told by them to select a dress that I thought suited both my body type and the occasion. In the end I nervously picked a floor length periwinkle blue silk cheongsam style dress. Its colour wasn't so pale as to blend in with my skin unflatteringly but not so dark as to make me look washed out (apparently this was very important). It also wasn't too showy, like some of the more full-skirted gowns- but was still very elegant in its design. I anxiously awaited the Twins approval but when I turned I saw they'd collapsed on the floor in tears of joy, claiming that they were so proud of their clueless little commoner.

Not for the first time that day did I curse them in my head, and so I marched back off to my room to have a shower and get ready.

* * *

There was definite collective gasp from the majority of our group as we looked up at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, an immense, round, Tudor-replica of a building with no roof situated on the banks of the River Thames. Inside, the stage was a large square protruding into the centre of the spherical design, supported by large columns of dark marble and gold. All seven of us were on the second level of seats, right at the back so we looked directly onto the stage. Even I was impressed, for I knew that this was a completely unique way of watching theatre. The closest I ever got to watching a Shakespearean play were the film adaptations we watched in English class.

The performance of Twelfth Night was great, even though I couldn't understand English all that well- I'd studied Shakespeare before, so I could follow it well enough. I knew what was funny, what was moving, and what was touching and I knew when to applaud when the Duke and Viola's marriage was declared. That was one thing about Shakespeare that I liked, you didn't have to know the language to really understand it. According to Hikaru anyway, half the time even English people don't know what the heck Shakespeare was saying.

'Ah wasn't that a marvellous performance?' Tamaki danced his way out of the theatre, his dinner jacket twirling in the breeze but before any of us could agree, he was off spouting quotes again- these ones mainly from the play we'd just seen. I shook my head with a smile, in a _'he's hopeless'_ kind of way.

Once I'd gotten Tamaki to stop spouting Shakespearean quotes every five seconds, he agreed to a walk along the Thames Embankment. So we said goodbye to the others and, holding hands, strolled leisurely along, chatting aimlessly about how different the green, luscious Stratford-Upon-Avon was compared to the buzzing, glittering city of London. We both agreed they were beautiful in their own right.

'Haruhi.' Tamaki stopped, catching my attention after a short silence 'May I just say again how beautiful you look tonight?'

I couldn't help but feel my ego grow a little, as it was my choice in dress that gave way to his compliments. But still I shook my head and replied laughingly 'You know you don't have to compliment me every time I put a dress on.'

'I do if you're going to look like that, which I suspect you will.' He argued teasingly and I smiled wider as we started walking again, our clasped hands swinging merrily whilst he carried on 'Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.'

'Romeo and Juliet act one scene five.' I commented absent minded. Tamaki stopped abruptly.

'Haruhi... you've read Romeo and Juliet?' He asked surprised.

'I- I uh- I read it in class.' I explained quickly, trying to hide the heat rising to my cheeks.

'Oh, all right. How did you find it?' Tamaki replied inquisitively, giving my hand a squeeze.

'It was quite good. I got annoyed at the characters though. It made me angry that these two young people in love had to hide it because their families were too ignorant and stubborn to see reason, and look past their differences. But I preferred Twelfth Night if I'm honest.'

'Because the main heroine is resourceful, smart, and disguises herself as a boy?' Tamaki grinned at me then, and I blinked- surprised.

'You know I never even really thought about it like that!' I replied laughing.

'And I of course am your Duke Orsino am I not?' Tamaki replied striking a pose.

'Yes, yes you are.' I laughed harder. 'Although if we're going to talk about you as a Shakespearean character I wouldn't pick him, his love for Viola seems to quick, not pure enough.'

'Oh really? Then who would you pick for me then?' Tamaki's question was simple sounding enough, but I thought for quite some time before coming up with an answer.

'Well, Romeo is considered the most romantic of the Shakespeare hero's, but I think he's too fickle as well. I mean he claims to be in love with this other girl Rosalind to the point where he's wrapped in a depression and then as soon as he sees Juliet looking pretty at the ball he magically forgets about her. I think you're more like Orlando, from As You Like It.'

'Did you read that in class too?' Tamaki asked innocently. I started.

'Urh...yeah.' I lied, embarrassed. 'B-but anyway, the reason why I think you're most like him is because he's a noble character and he never once doubts his love for Rosalind once he realises he loves her, and he has this way of making everyone around him love or admire him, even if he can be a bit silly sometimes and can get carried away with his feelings, it just goes to show how passionate he is. And even though he's a character of noble birth, he's not above helping people of low status- which is why so many people love him.' I explained and by the end of it I was fairly sure that I wasn't just talking about a character in a play.

Tamaki looked at me with a warm expression in his violet eyes. 'So- you really feel that way about him?'

I nodded shuffling my feet slightly, before carrying on in a shy voice 'I do. He's the best guy in the world. That's why Rosalind fell in love with him. And... if Viola was in that play, she would have fallen in love with him too.'

He chuckled. 'Is that so?' and before I could reply, gently pressed his lips against my own.

'Ah!' He cried letting go of me and spinning around, the lights of the London skyline caught in his hair, the streetlights giving us an almost mystical glow. 'What a perfect day, and a perfect night! Going to Stratford, seeing a Shakespearean play, and now I'm in one of the most romantic cities in the world, having a lively discussion about Shakespeare with the girl of my dreams! If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy, for I fear my soul hath her content so absolute.'

'Othello, act one, scene three.' I replied, and then clapped my hands to my mouth after realising that I'd done it again- and this time there was no explaining my way out. Tamaki stared at me.

'Haruhi...you couldn't have studied all those Shakespearean texts in class.' I looked at him, dreading the moment the lightbulb flicked on. 'At Ouran we only study one play a year. Romeo and Juliet was the only one you could have studied at school. Haruhi- did you- study Shakespeare by yourself?'

'All right, all right!' I held my hands up in mock-defeat, deciding that I might as well confess to him. 'Well, after we'd studied Romeo and Juliet- I realised that you often quote Shakespeare, so when we became a couple I started reading all the plays. I knew it was important to you, and you like them so much. I kind of...wanted to understand it...understand you a little better.' By now my skin was hot and red, and my stomach was flipping as I waited for his response. 'It's stupid, I know but I-'

The rest of my sentence was cut off as he lifted me into the air and kissed me for a second time that night. My eyes widened in surprise and my face flushed once more, before I relaxed and began kissing him back. The warmth of his arms around my waist, and the fact that my feet were dangling a foot from the ground, made it seem that he was the anchor that prevented me from floating away into the depths of an ocean. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my fingers into his silky golden hair and smiled into the kiss when I felt him distinctly shiver. He'd found my weakness, now it seemed I'd found his.

After he set me back down, his hand clasped mine tightly once more and he brought them up to his chest, lightly caressing my palm. 'I love you Haruhi.'

'I love you too.' I replied back in earnest as he brought our hands back down to waist level, and we began walking again- this time closer to each other than before.

'You know what this means don't you?' Tamaki asked dreamily and I looked up at him curiously. 'Now we can re-enact our favourite plays to the guests at the Host Club!'

'No way.' I replied back instantly, and the smile that was one Tamaki's face instantly disappeared to a look of desperation I liked to call his puppy-pout.

'Aw but Haruhi, think how fun it would be! He moaned.

'If you think I'm going to do that you're a bigger dummy than I thought.' I replied shaking my head.

'Haruhi you're so mean!' He cried letting go of my hand and stumbling around in the pits of despair.

'And you're an idiot.' I retorted lightly, unable to fight back the laughter bubbling in my chest. 'But- I had rather a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad.'

Tamaki peered over his shoulder at me, and found me smiling in a teasing way. Surprisingly, he stopped his melodramatic ramblings and smiled simply back at me.

'As You Like It, Act Two, Scene Seven.' He replied whilst I nodded, and we both laughed.

'Come on Orlando.' I joked taking his hand once more. 'Let's get back to the Hotel.'

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**So, so? What did you think! Review and let me know, along with your suggestions on where you'd like the Host Club to go! (^_^)**


	4. France Part One

**Hi guys! I know, I know it's been so long since I started this story you didn't think I'd ever update right? Wrong! I took a hiatus from fanfiction writing as I worked on my own original book, but that's nearly finished now so I decided to come back to this story since those that reviewed were so lovely to me. I always wanted to finish this but it was hard coming up with some ideas- I wanted this to be a light, fun story, but I also wanted character development too.**

**Expect more regular updates from this story from now on (about once a month possibly, but please bare in mind I'm a second-year university student, so you may have to be patient over the next month and a half exam period!)- by the way what was up with that no-signing-in thing? Sheesh!**

**Anyway if there are any of you out there that still kept up the hope all these months that I'd carry this on, this is dedicated to you! (Disclaimer: I'm a student! Please don't sue! XD )**

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Chapter Four- France Part One

I bit my lip in apprehension.

The sounds of the airport bustling around me were slightly muted, people walking by blurred into colourful blobs, my focus was entirely on the scene before me.

'I do hope you had a good flight.' The blonde haired woman who'd come to greet us said. I'd never really noticed how gentle her voice was before, but I did now. It was so sweet and calming, and I didn't know whether this made me more or less afraid. Her eyes were sparkling in a way I'm sure they hadn't for many years, but now they were bright and violet and almost as alive as the person who was standing before her- just stepping out of her embrace.

'Yes mother. It was perfect.' Tamaki replied softly and I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips, despite my own fears. The way he said the word- mother- as if it were a precious gift he had been given after many years of waiting and wishing. In a way, I suppose it was.

_Mother in heaven, I'm sure that you'll agree, this is almost a miracle._

'It's good to see him like this isn't it?' Kyoya said from my side as the others went forward to greet Anne-Sophie Grantaine.

I glanced up at Kyoya with a raised eyebrow, and rightly so. Kyoya wasn't usually so forward with his emotions- especially where Tamaki was concerned. For some reason, he seemed to like to give the impression that he cared for nothing beyond what could be gained from a situation- though we all knew it wasn't true.

I decided to play along. 'Yeah, it's great. He's waited so long, to be able to visit her whenever he wants I mean.' I replied, choosing my words carefully.

'Well if you agree with me, why are you standing here, why aren't you sharing in his happiness?' The Shadow King asked. 'Are you scared?'

_I swear he can read minds._ I thought a chill running through my spine.

'N-no.' I stuttered, not exactly helping the outright lie passing through my lips 'I'm not scared, I'm just...letting Tamaki have a moment with his long-lost mother.'

'Hmm I see.' Kyoya nodded, his glasses shining brightly in the florescent airport lights, and I had the distinct feeling he didn't believe a word I said. 'I know that you're meeting Mademoiselle Grantaine in different circumstances now that you're Tamaki's girlfriend and he can freely see her, but you won't know how she feels about you unless you actually talk to her. However I will say this, if you continue to hide in the shadows, she won't exactly consider you the most polite of guests.'

It was true that, once Tamaki's mother had heard of our summer tour of Europe, she insisted we stay with her during our stay in Paris, before we moved on to the Cote d'azur in the South of France.

Before flying into Paris, we'd travelled from London to stay in Edinburgh for two days but were unable to do much due to the rain. This disappointed the twins and Tamaki greatly, as they'd wanted to go on a search for the Loch Ness monster- Huni however was visibly relieved.

The rest of us neglected to tell them that Loch Ness was 150 miles away from the city of Edinburgh, but at least we got to see the famous castle.

'You know your logic is really annoying.' I grumbled at the Shadow King, puffing out a bit of air from the corner of my mouth in frustration, but I had to admit he was right. Truth be told I didn't really know what I was so afraid of. Anne-Sophie Grantaine was a lovely woman and Tamaki seemed to have inherited his acceptance of others from her. I knew deep down she wouldn't hate me.

So...why did the thought of speaking with her, of actually even being in the same room as her, cause my insides to freeze the same way they did when Nekozawa-Sempai played that trick on us on Halloween?

'Haru-chan, come say hi!' Huni-Sempai called, taking my hand and dragging me towards the group, I glanced over my shoulder at Kyoya to find him following us with a slight grin on his face, as if to say _'you're not getting away now.'_

_Damn Shadow King! _I thought and despite myself my heart rate began to accelerate.

'There you are Haruhi! Sheesh, where were you hiding?' Hikaru asked half jokingly, a smirk on his face. I chose to ignore him, instead I looked up at Tamaki- who looked so beside himself with happiness that I doubted he realised how much of a big experience this was for me- to be formally introduced to a boyfriend's mother for the first time. I wanted it to stay that way, so I gave him a weak but hopefully convincing smile.

Meanwhile my hand had somehow made it from Huni-Sempai's grasp into Tamaki's, as he pulled me the rest of the way so that I stood right in the centre of our little group- directly opposite Grantaine-san.

'Mother I know you've sort-of met before, but I'd like to formally introduce you to Haruhi Fujioka, my girlfriend, and the last member of the Host Club.' Tamaki said, his smile (though I didn't think it was possible) brightening.

Swallowing, and taking a deep steadying breath, I looked up into the eyes of Tamaki's mother, before gently taking my hands away from Tamaki's and bowing politely.

'It's an honour to meet you Grantaine-san.' I said just as I'd practiced. I wanted to be myself around Tamaki's mother, but at the same time I still wanted to give a good impression. I knew it was important, even the rest of the Host Club seemed to be subdued- seemed to know that these few moments were crucial.

I stiffened slightly when I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I looked up to see Grantaine-san smiling just as brightly as her son.

'No, Haruhi Fujioka.' She replied shaking her blonde curls ever so slightly and I held my breath in anticipation. 'I am the one who is honoured.'

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I wasn't exactly sure what was going on with the Grantaine's financial situation since everything that had happened over the past few months, but I assumed everything was much better for them, as the house we were taken to wasn't far off from the one Tamaki used to live in- at least in its size and grandeur.

Though I didn't really care how fancy it was, as long as the bed was a comfortable one. I didn't know whether it was the travelling that tired me out, or travelling with the Host Club, either way- as soon as I was shown to my room I flopped face-first onto the bed and had no intention of getting up for a long time. We'd flown out over dinner time and I wasn't hungry enough to join some of the others for a late supper.

After about five minutes I rolled from my stomach to my back and looked at the ceiling, high above me, as all ceilings in fancy houses were. It was old-fashioned and wooden panelled, rustic and yet fancy, like the rest of the house. A small chandelier hung from its centre- illuminating the room softly. I looked away from the chandelier, as staring at it was making my eyes heavy. I sat up, admiring the simple decor. Though it was simple in its furnishings, the room still managed to maintain an air of upper class wealth- but not in an overwhelming sense. I smiled, running my fingers over the plush floral sheets. Maybe it was because of this that I felt more comfortable here than I had at the hotels we'd stayed at. Though I had liked the hotels, it seemed they were decorated so richly that I couldn't relax properly, for fear of breaking something and owing a massive debt (it wouldn't be the first time).

Or maybe it was just because we were staying in somebody's home, and there didn't seem to be anything in my room worth over eight million yen- that I felt I could relax more.

Though I wasn't exactly going to be running around with my eyes shut to test that theory.

The next thing I knew it was an hour later, 10pm, at least if the clock on top of the fireplace had any indication. I sat up, stretching, and decided to get a glass of water before going to bed properly- it was going to be a long day tomorrow. We were travelling to all the major Paris landmarks, and Tamaki had a few places he wanted to show us from his childhood days. With that in mind I knew I needed to get a good night's sleep.

The house was oddly quiet, definitely a glaring indication that everyone had either gone to their rooms for the evening, or were plotting something. Either way I was too travel-worn to care that much what the others were up to- and so carried on towards the basement kitchen, where Grantaine-san had told us to go if we needed anything during the night.

The trouble was that the majority of the hall lights were off and, not being used to the house even when the lights were on, I stumbled down the stairs- cursing to myself when I stubbed my toe on a potted plant at the base of the stairs and wondering why nothing even remotely associated with the Host Club (even just getting a glass of water) was simple.

But my- what the twins would call- mission to find a cold glass of water was forgotten almost instantly when I heard the faint sound of a piano coming from a room just off to the left of the entrance hall. And there wasn't a doubt in my mind as to who was behind the sudden rush of music filling the bottom floor of the Maison de Grantaine.

I stood there, is an almost trance-like state, for what seemed like eternity. A part of me thought it was wrong of me to be listening, that I should just turn back around and go to bed and pretend I hadn't heard anything. But a larger part of me knew that I wasn't going to let that happen. And so came the inner struggle. It was obviously Tamaki playing the piano - and a part of me always thought (though I could never pinpoint the exact moment) that I'd begun to get true feelings for him the moment I first saw him play- the way he looked so calm and at peace, as his fingers produced such beautiful music- was really...moving. Before then I'd never really bothered listening to classical music, I just wasn't enthusiastic about music in general, often only really keeping up with the current stuff by occasionally hearing things on the radio.

After he'd performed that Mozart duet by himself, I'd gone out and borrowed a bunch of classical music CD's from the library, and listened to them as I did my homework.

Not that I would ever tell him that.

I wanted to watch him play, it was so hypnotic when he did that sometimes I felt I could watch him forever. But, as I finally took a step forwards, towards the music, like it was some kind of siren call or something- I heard a voice- just as the music stopped.

'Oh Tamaki, that was so beautiful. You've improved wonderfully!' The teary voice of Tamaki's mother reached my ears. And I froze once again.

'Thank you Mother. I practiced every day, for you. I knew I'd get to play for you again one day and I promised myself that when that day came, I'd be twice as good as I was when I left.' came Tamaki's happy, yet oddly bittersweet, reply.

And that's when it clicked. I remembered Tamaki telling me about how he would play to his mother when he was younger and she was run down from her illness, and how he hardly ever went out to play with the other children because of it.

And my decision was made, then and there. No matter how I felt, no matter how much I wanted to see him play, this was a moment for Tamaki and his mother to share alone. How could I get in the way of such a sweet reunion between the two, after they had waited so long?

The simple answer is that I wouldn't. Another time, another day, and I might be able to watch him play; hear the music he created with the simplest touch. Maybe one day I'd have the courage to actually ask if he would play. But tonight wasn't that moment. And so I began to turn around, began to make my way back upstairs- even as I heard the piano start once more, I knew I wouldn't stay, I would not be selfish.

But I would, apparently, trip backwards over the same potted plant from earlier, causing me to cry out in shock and the plant to come tumbling right down after me, as I did a semi-back flip onto the ground.

The music stopped.

In a moment of complete panic-induced idiocy I shushed the plant. Standing up, I attempted to pick up the offending item and place it back where it had been. Somewhere, way in the back of my head, another panicked part of me (the part which really didn't want to have to explain itself to Tamaki and his mother) yelled out in protest-

_Leave the evidence! JUST RUN!_

This seemed like a good idea, and I was more than willing to comply- except the second I tried to climb the stairs- a shooting pain went through my right foot and I buckled completely under my own weight from the shock of it.

The lights of the entrance hall suddenly flickered on and Tamaki and Grantaine-san came rushing forward towards the scene of my crime, whilst I lay in a crumpled heap, my face crimson, wanting nothing more than for Beelzenef to come and kill me on the spot.

'Haruhi? Haruhi are you ok?' Tamaki said, leaning down to crouch over me, whilst Grantaine-san gasped.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' I breathed _except I'm about to die of shame_ 'I got up to get a glass of water and I got a little lost.' I could not believe the words coming out of my mouth. 'And then I guess I tripped over that plant.'

_Yup, want to die. Right now. Please._

'Oh dear, Fujioka-san, I'm so sorry all the lights were turned off!' Grantaine-san cried as Tamaki looked accusingly over at the offending plant. 'France is in a bit of an energy-saving vogue right now. I should have made sure you had everything you needed before hand!'

I blushed harder 'No, no please don't apologise- it was something I wanted on impulse' and I would never, ever, ever act on impulse, EVER again. It must have been the Host Clubs influence on me.

'Are you hurt in any way?' Tamaki asked, his worried eyes darting all over my body, which tingled in response- despite my mortification.

'I- well I think I bruised my ankle but only a little bit, it kind of hurts. But I don't think it's sprained and- hey! What are you doing?' I cried the last part as Tamaki swept me up, bridal-style, into his arms and carried me back across the entrance hall, into the room where he had been playing piano.

He set me down on the actual piano stool- as it was the seat closest to the door- and I couldn't help but feel as if the night couldn't get any worse. I'd completely humiliated myself in front of my boyfriend's mother, I might have broken a madly expensive plant pot (I hadn't checked) and I'd bruised my ankle.

_Why do these things always happen to me? Am I just a magnet for weird occurrences and freak accidents, or is that just another part of being in the Host Club? _I thought with a sigh.

'I'm going to get you some ice, Mother could you stay and look over her please?' Tamaki asked and I thought that it would be rude to say what I was thinking- that being left alone with Grantaine-san was completely unnecessary, especially after the way I'd made a complete and utter fool of myself. So I stayed silent whilst Grantaine-san agreed to watch over me. I didn't even react when Tamaki, in an obvious spur-of-the-moment, reached to cup my cheek tenderly before leaving to get the ice.

I exhaled into the sudden silence. Considering the large cacophony of the past few minutes, the quiet was quite a big contrast and I found myself thinking of that old expression _'it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop'_ or something like that. I didn't know what to say, or do, now that I was alone with this person- but I was very much aware of her eyes on me.

'Are you sure you're ankle isn't hurting you too much?' Grantaine-san questioned, sitting down on the stool next to me, her blonde curls cascaded down her shoulder as she turned her head to read my expression.

'Oh, n-no it's fine. Well it's not fine, it hurts. But it's not a bad hurt! It's more like just an annoyance. Tamaki didn't have to carry me. He was just being his normal dramatic self. I mean-' I gasped slightly at my gaffe. 'That isn't what I meant. I just meant was he worries too much and I uh-'

I stopped my insane ramblings (thank goodness) when Grantaine-san chuckled. It was a light, soft, gentle sound. Like a tiny bell. It seemed almost fragile, as if she were afraid of her new-found happiness.

'Yes my son, he's very passionate in everything he does, so much like his father. And while it can be a bit exhausting, especially when he was a child, it's also something I love the most about him. Things never get boring when he's around-'

'-Because he always treats things like a mission or a mystery to be solved.' I completed the thought for her subconsciously and the two of us blinked at each other for a few moments, before bursting out laughing at our shared knowledge of the Host Club King.

I started to feel less nervous around her as I watched her cover her mouth, her violet eyes (exactly the same colour as Tamaki's) crinkling in mirth. Grantaine-san was such a gentle spirit, her heart seemed so full of love, so concerned for others wellbeing. She seemed to exude a quality that just drew others to her. It was a quality, I think, that she had definitely passed down to her son. Where Yuzuru Suoh-san was Tamaki's hyper-active, super-charming side, here was the explanation to Tamaki's calm side, the side I had seen that day in the pond as he helped me search for me lost purse, the side which looked at me with such love and caring that I couldn't help but fall in love with him right back, no matter how hard my mind had tried to stop it at first.

'So, Grantaine-san' I began to say but was interrupted by a gentle raise of her hand.

'Please, call me Anne-Sophie' She grinned and I responded a little more nervously.

'R-right. Anne-Sophie-San' I said, the formality sounding strange on my tongue 'I heard Tamaki playing the piano before I hurt my ankle, I didn't mean to intrude on your evening. I hope I didn't ruin it.'

'Not at all! I was going to retire soon anyway. Tamaki would have played for me all night I'm sure but I'm less young than all of you and far less likely to be able to withstand- what you would call- an all-nighter.' She chuckled slightly at this. 'So please don't think you ruined our night. If anything you made it more perfect.'

I looked up curiously 'Huh?' I said before I could stop myself.

Luckily it only made Grantaine-san laugh again. 'I mean that I could spend some quality alone time with the woman who has so captured my son's heart.'

'W-woman?' I stammered over the word, my head spinning, I'd never really been called a woman before. Not properly.

'I was hoping I would be able to, to get to know you, I meant.' She clarified before reaching up to cup my cheek in such a motherly way that my breath caught. 'You're a very bright, beautiful, insightful woman Haruhi. I am so proud and happy that my son fell in love with you.'

There was silence once more as I took in the gravity of her words, what they meant. She...she was accepting me! Truth be told it really shouldn't have bothered me whether or not she did, all that really mattered was that Tamaki and I loved each other after all, but deep down I knew that I really did care what this woman thought of me, what a _mother_ thought of me.

Anne-Sophie span around on the stool and peered over the piano towards the door 'Oh dear, it seems to be taking a while- I wonder if I should have gone instead. You know how Tamaki gets when he panics.'

'I'm almost too aware of it' I grumbled under my breath; however the sound of the keys of the piano being pressed luckily drowned it out.

When I turned around on the chair I noticed Anne-Sophie playing a very basic, if made up tune.

'Do you know how to play?' I asked, surprised, and forgetting formalities AGAIN.

'Only a little, I had lessons, but I could never quite master it. I have always been more adept at playing wind instruments.' She replied softly- concentrating on moving her fingers over the keys. 'Have you ever learned, Haruhi-san?'

Having a fair idea where this was going I hastily told her that I definitely did not, and never learned to, play piano. What she said next however, completely floored me.

'Well I know a simple tune that's so easy anyone could play it! Haruhi-san, will you play it with me?' She asked extending her hand slightly. I wanted to say no, I wanted to run away and hide myself from any further embarrassment, then I realised that definitely wouldn't do my ankle any good. I was stuck here.

And then I looked into her violet eyes, so gentle and understanding, her hand raised ever so slightly in an inviting gesture and I realised that it wasn't just her calm nature that Tamaki had inherited. Apparently, I couldn't say no to her either.

So I span around too and, with a shy smile, replied 'what do I have to do?'

She took my hand and hovered it over three keys, indicating which ones I should play and how many times I should press on them. 'Once I play my part, you play these keys in this order'

'But how will I know when you've finished?' I asked worrying that I was about to make a fool of myself.

'Trust me, you'll definitely know.' She replied with an encouraging smile. Somehow I think she was overestimating my abilities, I wasn't musically inclined- not even a little bit.

But then she began to play and, forgetting when I was supposed to come into the song, I burst out laughing at the silliness of it. Suddenly, I knew exactly what she was doing, and exactly what we were playing.

'Sometimes life's more fun when it's more light hearted isn't it?' She replied as I snorted despite myself.

'Yeah. Yeah I guess it is.' I chuckled, completely forgetting about formalities- which I suppose had been her intention all along. To really get to know me, like this.

'Well then, shall we start again?' She asked and I nodded- more prepared this time. Anne-Sophie flexed her fingers dramatically, as if she were about to start to perform an amazing concert piece instead of sitting beside a commoner ready to perform one of the most basic songs ever known. And as she played, she began to sing.

'Twinkle, twinkle, little star-' She started and I fought the urge not to laugh again.

'How I wonder what you are-' I sang back, grinning from ear-to-ear as I played my piece, no longer caring about embarrassing myself.

'Up above the world so high-' She continued and then moved so that I could repeat the pattern.

'Like a diamond in the sky-'

And then we both began to sing. 'Twinkle, Twinkle, little star- how I wonder what you are.' We could hardly finish the song through our ever-escalating fit of giggles and I found myself filled with such warmth, such acceptance that I didn't know if the tears in my eyes were tears of laughter or something else. How was it that both Anne-Sophie and her son could make me do things that I never in a million years thought I would do?

I glanced up once the laughter had subsided, a thought suddenly processing in my head from earlier- just what was taking Tamaki so long to find some ice?

And then I saw him at the door, a look in his eyes I had seen only a few times before and it was one that made my spine tingle and my body fill with a kind of warmth that felt so odd and yet really, really good. There he'd watched us with that look of such intense and pure bliss, a packet of ice in hand, at the two women he loved- as they'd started to form a bond in perhaps the most bizarre way possible.

But then how could I expect anything normal? This was supposed to be the holiday none of us would ever forget, after all.

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**Reviews would be amazing please and thank you! :) (p.s I'm aware Japanese people may be unfamiliar with "twinkle twinkle little star" but I thought it was too funny a scene to pass up- so I used creative licence (^_^) )**


	5. France Part Two

**Whew! Exams are over! What a nightmare they were too! I had so many exams I could barely see the light at the end there for a while, but now I'm back and have been working hard on a new chapter as I promised I would do so :D**

**One of the events in this chapter is actually inspired (slightly) by real-life events, something which happened to me when I went to Paris and I thought "hmmm how would the Host Club act in that kind of situation?" However I'll elaborate later so as not to spoil you! The chapter was originally going to be longer, but I decided I liked that it was a more group-based chapter to counter-act the very TamaHaru last previous chapter (though don't worry, there is still TamaHaru fluff in this chapter- just with a double helping of what I hope is comedy!) so I changed things around a little.**

**So without further adieu- I give you the latest chapter of this whacky, fluff filled adventure! Enjoy! (Disclaimer: Don't own the characters blah blah blah)**

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Chapter Five- France Part Two.

I checked and re-checked, and then I checked once more- until I could no longer deny the evidence my eyes left in front of me.

'Huh... interesting.' I murmured, not entirely sure if I should be angry, confused, afraid or even amused. I mean this wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence- and coming from someone like me, who lived the crazy unpredictable life of a Host Club member, that was saying something.

I stood still for a moment, watching the numerous people around me without truly seeing them. Worry and curiosity were starting to sink in- replacing the blank disbelief from before- and they came with a few questions:

First- what do I do now? Secondly, where the heck was everyone? Because being left on the top level of the Eiffel Tower at night wasn't exactly something I was prepared for.

Yes. That's right. They'd left me at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

'Mother in Heaven, this can't be happening.' I cried burying my exasperated face in my hands with a groan. 'What the hell do I do now?'

After a moment of brief but very blinding panic, I decided that it wouldn't do to lose my head (like the other's probably would once they realised I was missing). I had to be rational, and so I checked my cell phone- which I brought only in case of emergency, as international calls and texts were so expensive- only to realise with dismay that there was no service available. So I decided to sit down on one of the benches, regroup, try to think of how I had gotten into this situation and plan where to go from there.

We'd spent all day touring Paris, from the historic and quirky artists' quarter, where we'd gotten a painting drawn of all of us together, to the famous Moulin Rouge windmill. We'd driven down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, admiring a building that was actually shaped like briefcases which- according to a drooling Hikaru and Kaoru- was the Louis Vuitton store, and everyone marvelled that the McDonalds here had the colour themes of white and gold instead of red and yellow. Tamaki told us that it was because the Avenue was so high-class, it only allowed signs to be hung in white or gold- so this was the only place in the world that you could see a McDonalds with this colour sign. At the end of this overly fancy avenue stood the famous Arc de Triomphe, with its everlasting flame and roundabout that was so dangerous- insurance people wouldn't cover you if you crashed there.

Shortly after our ride around the roundabout of death, we left the car and walked a short way to the island that hosted the immense Notre Dame cathedral, which took my breath away, but we didn't have time to see completely because we would have missed our boat. We'd had a late lunch on the aforementioned boat which had taken us down the river Seine and under a bridge that Tamaki said would grant us any wish once we crossed under it. So we'd all closed our eyes and done just that-

_-'So what did you wish for?' I'd asked Tamaki once I'd opened my eyes. I glanced up at the glass roof of the boat, slowly letting in more light as we passed under the other side of the bridge. The sky above was bright and blue and made me blink as my eyes adjusted to it; I turned my face to Tamaki- who seemed to be doing the same thing._

'_Hmm?' He shook his head, coming out of his reverie, and I noticed he was in a sudden calm mode, odd considering he'd been like acting like a puppy on sugar all day._

'_What did you wish for?' I repeated with a curious tilt to my head._

'_Oh, I didn't. I don't think I need to.' He replied frankly. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and he carried on explaining. 'Well I feel as if I already have so much, it would be pretty useless of me to wish for something that's already coming true.'_

_And then he locked his violet eyes onto mine with such an intense, knowing gaze that I shivered, suddenly wanting to kiss him more than I'd ever wanted to do anything- despite where we were and who we were with. It was amazing, how one minute his actions made me want to kick him off the boat and the next second made me want to...well..._

_Love, I was beginning to find, was a very scary, powerful thing._

_But if it meant he kept looking at me like that, I had absolutely no problems with it- even if it did make me turn as red as sunburned tomato._

_Just before I began to start spluttering like a crazy idiot, Huni- thankfully- came skipping up to us from the deck outside._

'_I wished for cake!' He chirped brightly and loudly enough for the whole boat to hear._

'_Huni-sempai no!' Hikaru looked mortified and came rushing over from the bar- where he'd been trying to convince the bartender to give us a bottle of wine (his main argument was that this was France and everybody drank here- not very convincing in my opinion) 'You're not supposed to tell people what you wished for, or your wish won't come true!'_

'_I heard if you tell people what you wish for, the opposite comes true.' Kaoru whispered fearfully. I rolled my eyes, turning away from my curiously tranquil boyfriend and getting ready for a scene once Huni-Sempai realised what the two were implying. Just as I was preparing to chide the troublesome twins- a waitress stepped into the room with a cart full of desserts, mainly cakes the size of my face, and took a deep curtsy before speaking._

'_Pardon me, but I am sure that I heard Monsieur Haninozuka wishing for cake. On behalf of our pastry chef, we would like to offer you all each a cake of your choosing, on the house.'_

_Huni-sempai had been so thrilled, he'd eaten the entirety of his cake practically whole, whilst the rest of us simply watched, stunned that he didn't get sick, andMori-sempai made him brush his teeth with a little travel kit he'd (wisely) brought along-_

'Ok' I shook my head, taking me out of that pleasant but distracting memory. 'That's enough of that- focus.'

When the boat finally docked, the sun was starting to set, so we'd gone walking back along the river bank, taking photos of the sunset and each other and laughing when Hikaru and Kaoru began chasing each other, nearly falling into the river themselves.

At last we reached the car, which took us to the Eiffel tower. After a long queue and a brief argument with Tamaki, who insisted he pay for my ridiculously expensive admission ticket, we were riding the elevator to the very top of the tower, the city of lights were blinking below us and I allowed myself to get taken in by the magic and wonder of Paris. We all stood there together, feeling the gentle night time breeze and talking casually amongst ourselves, the others listening fascinated whilst I told them about the time my class took a field trip to Tokyo Tower when I was eleven.

That was when I'd lost them, after I'd told them to wait for me whilst I went into the souvenir shop. I'd bought what I wanted, hadn't been more than five minutes tops, and when I came out they were nowhere to be found.

'Of course they'd do the opposite of what I asked.' I mumbled furiously, wondering how even Kyoya hadn't been paying attention, whist thinking of my next step. So here I was, on the top of the Eiffel tower, alone, in a city whose language I was only just beginning to grasp, with no cell phone service and no idea where the rest of my group was.

_I could so easily freak out right now._

Instead I did the only rational thing I could think of, took another elevator back down to middle level and then another to the ground level, where I could get my cell phone service back and try to call the others. If that didn't work I could call Anne Sophie-san, who had given me her number in case of emergency and who we were supposed to be meeting for dinner tonight. Everything would be fine.

It took a bit longer than I'd hoped to reach the ground, due to the queues and when I stepped off the elevator, I looked around to try and find the others, but they were nowhere to be found. I swallowed the lump of...concern in my throat and flipped open my phone, relieved to see that it had some service again, but I decided to walk further into the centre of the square just to be extra sure. As I was about to dial Tamaki's number I stopped, deleting the action with a sigh. Tamaki would have realised I was missing by now and was probably running around like a headless chicken- if I rung him my ear drums would never recover from the panicked yelling. I was just beginning to ring Kyoya when I was assaulted by a four foot nine blonde blur.

'Haru-chaaaaan!' It was Huni-Sempai, now clinging onto me for dear life, as if I would go missing again the second he let me go. Mori-Sempai came up behind him.

'M-Mori-Sempai, what's going on?' I asked, flabbergasted. 'Where are the others?'

'They went back up to look for you.' He replied simply looking upwards at the vast iron latticed structure, lit up and sparkling in the night, I followed suit- suddenly feeling very small. 'We stayed in case you'd come back down.'

'Are you ok? We didn't realise you weren't with us until we got off the elevator. You're not mad are you?' Huni sniffed, teary eyed. 'You're phone wasn't answering and everyone was worried. Tama-chan wanted to call the National Guard, Hika-chan and Kao-chan thought you'd been kidnapped again! I was really scared.'

I blinked, amazed they'd gotten themselves that frantic in that short of a time- and actually glad that these two had found me instead of the others. Being glomped by one hysterical Lolita-type was by far better than being practically assaulted by two five foot ten demons and one six foot hyperactive puppy.

'I'm fine.' I reassured patting Huni-sempai awkwardly on the head. 'I wasn't kidnapped obviously, I just went to the gift shop, and I thought you heard me when I told you that was where I was going.'

'You're not angry.' Mori-Sempai replied and it was more like a statement than a question. For some strange reason I got the feeling he was reading my aura or something. I nodded. 'Good. I'll call Kyoya.' And with that he walked a few steps away so that he was out of earshot but could still keep an eye of the both of us.

Huni-sempai let me go but kept one hand clutched on my jacket sleeve, looking up at me with sparkling, worried eyes.

'Are you sure you're not mad?' He asked quietly. I smiled.

'Really, I'm not.' I replied truthfully and so we stood there in silence, watching the traffic go by and watching the people of all nationalities. There were fellow Japanese people with cameras chatting excitedly in their groups, English tourists who fondly reminded me of London, Germans whose thick accents made it seem like they were angry with each other but really they were just passionate with what they were saying, and of course there were French people from outside of Paris come to marvel at their countries most iconic structure.

'I like it here.' Huni-Sempai said after a few moments. I turned to face him.

'Me too.' I replied. 'What's been your favourite part so far?'

'Well, when the nice lady on the boat gave me that huge cake. That was great!' He replied and I chuckled in response. Huni-Sempai looked up at me, his warm brownish-golden eyes serene and happy, showing the wise person within the happy-go-lucky exterior. 'But I think just all of us here together has been great. It's like some crazy adventure, something we'll all remember forever ne?'

I looked up once more at the vast tower of intricate steel looming above me like a giant brown beast- the lights illuminating the skyline of this fascinating, quirky city. And I thought back on everything that had happened since I'd first opened that door to the seemingly empty music room so long ago- how different, how colourless my life would have been if I'd chosen another door, another place, another time to go and study. This holiday was making me reflect on all my life had become since that fateful moment when the eight million yen vase had broken into eight million pieces.

'Yeah...' I replied turning back to my short blonde companion with a soft smile. 'It's definitely a crazy adventure- one I'll always be grateful for.'

Huni returned my smile with a gentle, knowing one of his own and the pair of us went back to people watching when Mori-sempai came back over to us, having just hung up the phone.

'Takashi!' Huni-sempai greeted cheerfully, climbing back up on his faithful companions shoulders. 'What did they say, are they on their way back down? Is everyone relieved that Haru-chan's ok?'

'Mm' Mori-sempai nodded, clearly having felt like he'd said enough for one day. I sighed in relief that this was all soon to be forgotten.

'Well that's good then' I spoke my thoughts aloud 'we only have to wait for a few minutes and then we can go meet Grantaine-san for din-'

'HARUHIIIIIIIIIIII!' the cry was so loud, it echoed around all four corners of the tower and caused people to stop in their tracks, looking for the source of such noise that could carry over the sounds of the tourists and the Parisian traffic (which was no mean feat). I span around, mouth agape, my mind choosing dumbstruck over mortification- though I was sure that would follow shortly.

There was Tamaki- standing a few feet away from the elevators, panting like he'd just ran a hundred miles, beads of sweat at his temple, staring straight at me.

'Tamaki- wha- I- how- did you run halfway down the tower?' I spluttered in disbelief, there was no way he'd been able to get down here so fast otherwise. But still, there were about six hundred steps from the top to the middle floor- he must have practically flown down them to reach me so fast.

He didn't answer my question, just raced over to me and pulled me into an embrace so tight- I could only remember one other time him having done so. Then I recalled what Huni-sempai had said, about him wanting to call the National Guard and suddenly, I understood.

'It's alright.' I said, trying to sound soothing as I wrapped my arms around him in response to his embrace- I wasn't exactly the best person to comfort and calm people (contrary to what others have said about me, I just don't see it). 'I'm alright.'

'I thought that you'd...' Tamaki mumbled and I was surprised to see how much this had got to him, from how much his voice trembled and his body shook- although that could have been the adrenaline of running down six hundred steps in what could have been no more than three or four minutes- which was practically impossible, but if anyone could do it- it was the man currently holding me like there was no tomorrow.

'I know. It's ok.' I replied softly. 'Of course I wasn't going to get kidnapped- idiot. There are so many guards here, it's impossible.'

_Oh yeah, that's great Haruhi- call him an idiot, I'm sure that's really comforting._

What surprised me is that it really did seem to calm him down. He stepped out of the embrace but still kept a soft grip on my shoulders. I looked up at him; heat rising to my cheeks a little, the night air was suddenly much colder than it had been before he hugged me. He was like a beacon of pure heat.

'Yeah I guess you're right- it was pretty stupid of me to get so worried in such a closely surveyed area!' He chuckled sheepishly, tossing one hand up to scratch the back of his blonde locks. I just stood there, wondering how someone who was shaking moments ago could be so easily calmed by me calling him an idiot. Maybe it was because he really was an idiot, but no- I think it was much more than that. The thought made me blush again, which by the way was starting to get ridiculous. I really had to learn to pull myself together, or I wasn't going to get out of this relationship alive.

Or I was going to have to learn to fight fire with fire- like Kyoya once told me to.

'Haruhi!' once again the square was filled with the sounds of people yelling my name as a whirlwind of dust came shooting towards us- knocking Tamaki flying and the next thing I knew I was being practically strangled by the enormous bear hugs being given to me by Hikaru and Kaoru.

'Haruhi there you are!' Hikaru cried whilst Kyoya approached the scene in a far more dignified way.

'We were so worried about you!' Kaoru whined nuzzling his face against my cheek. Tamaki got up off the floor, fuming.

'You devils!' He yelled furiously dusting off his jacket and sending an accusing finger pointing in the twins' direction. 'Haruhi and I were having an intimate, beautiful moment and you ruined it!'

'You can't hog her all the time, we were worried about her too Tono.' Kaoru replied poking his tongue out at Tamaki.

'That's great guys' I wheezed. 'But right now I can't breathe-'

'Yeah Tono' Hikaru replied, completely ignoring me and actually holding me tighter. 'We've got to hug her any time we can, and save these precious moments- who knows when Haruhi might run off again.'

'Seriously guys- can't breathe.' I cried pushing them loose off of me when Hikaru's words registered and I responded with indignant fury. 'And I didn't run off! I told you guys where I was going; you just didn't listen to me!'

'Right, right, don't blame us for your mistakes Haruhi.' The twins said in unison as they bounced off towards the car, Huni and Mori-sempai following close behind. I stood there seething.

'Now, now the both of you need to calm down. It would be quite troublesome if the twins dropped down dead from looks you both were giving them now wouldn't it?' Kyoya said in his usual matter-of-fact tone. But I couldn't help but get the feeling he was teasing us both as he adjusted his glasses coolly.

'Yeah but it would make my life a lot easier.' I murmured to which I heard him hum in amusement (yep he was definitely teasing us) walking a few steps ahead and calling out over his shoulder.

'Come along you two or Grantaine-san will be left alone at the restaurant'

Taking a deep breath I took Tamaki's hand and glanced up at him to steady my nerves, I knew if I didn't calm down I'd get a headache and that was the last thing I wanted. So I did the best thing I could think of- change the subject.

'Are you sure I'll be ok going to dinner dressed like this?' I asked looking down at my clothes shyly. That seemed to do the trick. Tamaki snapped out of it instantly, transferring his anger to defensiveness on my behalf.

'Why, what's wrong with the way you look? You're perfect.' He replied with a sort of finality in his tone that told me he'd take on anyone that said otherwise. It was... flattering but mostly silly and I snorted in response.

'Yeah right, anyway nothing's _wrong_ with the way I look exactly, and it's not just me- it's all of us. Aren't we a little...underdressed for dinner?' I explained as we climbed in behind Kyoya into the car. 'I thought at least Kyoya-sempai would make us go back and get changed.'

'I did consider it, but once Tamaki told me of the nature of the restaurant, I decided that our casual clothes would be more in keeping with its tone.' Kyoya responded glancing at his PDA. I looked to Tamaki, whom I'd noticed had switched from fury to excitement at the prospect of spending dinner with his mother and the Host Club, getting to share both his worlds, and stepping ever closer to his kotatsu dream.

'It's a small family-owned restaurant mother and I used to go to when I was young and she was feeling well enough to venture further outdoors.' He explained with such happiness, such serenity that it brought a smile to every ones faces. Even Mori-sempai's usually stoic face bore a small grin. 'It'll be great to go there with all of you- I'm sure you'll love it.'

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. The excess of the Host Club was something I wasn't exactly thrilled about, but something I was very used to. So whenever they mentioned taking part in something that wasn't either steeped in grandeur, or some far-fetched notion of _'common culture',_ it genuinely surprised me. Despite this I realised, Grantaine-san was very down to earth and so of course she wouldn't want to be surrounded by extravagance every waking minute of the day, it was partly why I liked her so much, and her illness would have made her prefer the more quiet setting of family owned restaurants. Perhaps this was where Tamaki's calmer side had first stemmed from.

Either way I would finally be able to relax and enjoy a meal in a restaurant where a bowl of soup didn't cost more than my soul. It was a comforting thought.

* * *

'This is a joke, right? They're joking?'

Not for the first time that day was I frozen in disbelief at the sight in front of me. We had just finished our lovely meal at the small Chez Rousseau, a little restaurant hidden away on a side street of mostly old-timey apartments. Its insides were warmly lit, the colours a comforting mauve and deep red, giving an inviting atmosphere that could have been romantic or just platonic, depending on each person's individual mood or who they were with. We'd chatted amiably with the wait staff, who spoke a number of languages and let me practice my French with them whilst Tamaki beamed proudly and the twins cheered me on embarrassingly. We'd also met with the owner- Monsieur Rousseau- the head of the family that owned the restaurant and good friend of Anne Sophie-san. He was a man coming out of middle age, slightly portly with thinning tufts of still mousy hair occasionally speckled with grey. He was definitely aging well and that could have been due to the constant friendly smile, stretched over his wrinkling but welcoming features as he complimented us all, gushed over Anne Sophie-San, and admired how tall Tamaki had gotten. His overall attitude, it seemed, was reflected in the atmosphere of his restaurant.

'No Mademoiselle.' Rousseau replied with a chuckle, talking to us now in English, the language that we all could talk to each other in with most ease. 'Zis' is no joke, in fact many a customer has risen to ze challenge of Chez Rousseau.'

'I don't understand why eating escargot is a challenge, well I do, but I don't understand why you chose to make it a challenge.' I replied staring at the silver tray of snails, and feeling my dinner start to rise up into my throat. Anne Sophie-san giggled.

'Well, you see, Haruhi- many tourists come to France believing that all we eat are frogs legs and snails. It is a very common stereotype.' She explained. 'When they come here they believe they have to find a place that serves either one or both, or they wouldn't have had the true French experience and to be polite they pretend to enjoy escargot especially, even though many of our own countrymen do not like the taste or the texture- they believe it would offend our ego's if they did not like such a well-known delicacy!' She laughed once more and the rest of us followed suit.

'Man, those people are idiots.' Hikaru replied. 'I can understand if they did it to not offend somebody important, like if the President of France offered it to you, but to go into a restaurant and order something you know you're not going to like-' He didn't need to explain further, just rolled his eyes and began chuckling again.

'Well zat it why I 'ave chosen not to put them on my menu.' Rousseau explained. 'But, instead I offer customers a more, what I 'ope to be a fun experience, of making it a challenge- so zey know it is just a game and we will not get offended if they do not like them.'

'Oh. I get it. That seems like a great idea. And people actually take part in the challenge?' I asked.

'More people do then don't- especially ze men, I believe it is, how you say, ze male pride?' He threw back his head and gave a hearty laugh, I caught Tamaki's eye and smirked, he shot back an indignant stare which caused me to laugh outright. I decided I liked Monsieur Rousseau. 'So- come, come, which of you is brave enough to take on ze challenge of Chez Roussau?'

'I am!' both twins and Tamaki called out simultaneously.

'Tama-chan, you lived here for most of your life, you must have had snails before ne?' Huni-sempai asked with a tilt to his head. Tamaki froze mid-reach to the snail.

'Y-yes but even so, a man does not back down from a challenge if his honour is on the line, right Kyoya?' He peered over to his best friend, who responded by raising his eyebrow.

'In a way, you're right I suppose. However this is one challenge I will not be taking part in.' He responded, clearly seeing no benefit.

'Me neither, they look kind of gross.' Huni-sempai agreed.

Tamaki's face dropped.

'Oh come on men, where is your sense of adventure?' He argued and was about to carry on what was obviously about to be a very long winded speech when suddenly Mori-sempai reached down, and in one sweeping motion- ate one of the snails, placing the empty shell back onto the tray.

We all sat in stunned silence for what must have been a full minute- before Rousseau begun to applaud.

'Bravo Monsieur, very casually done.'

'Wow Mori-sempai that was so cool!' The twins remarked and everybody nodded in agreement. And spurred on by this sudden moment of coolness- pretty soon all of us succumbed to the challenge of Chez Rousseau- even Huni-sempai.

'Oh god that was awful!' Hikaru cried wiping his tongue on his napkin, tears in his eyes.

'Terrible!' Kaoru agreed, following his twin's actions.

'Why are they so chewy and stringy? Not like cake at all!' Huni-sempai cried whilst Kyoya said nothing, but had gone suspiciously thin lipped.

'Never, ever, again.' I gagged sipping at my lemonade, hoping to get the taste of garlic and rubbery evil out of my mouth. 'Never, never, never again.'

'I forgot how much I didn't like them.' Tamaki replied sipping at his water but in far better shape than the rest of us. All the while the rest of the wait staff were chortling amongst themselves, Monsieur Rousseau laughing uproariously along with a chortling Anne Sophie-san, who admitted she knew this was going to happen, but promised Tamaki's father she wouldn't say anything to deter us from taking part in the challenge, so she could tell him what happened later on for his amusement. However in response she did bring some extra-strong breath mints that were guaranteed to get rid of the taste.

And so on the minty-fresh note that we would promise to one day come back to Chez Rousseau but never take part in the challenge again, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the car.

* * *

**So yup, on a secondary school trip to Paris- my group left me on top of the Eiffel Tower whilst I was in the gift shop, so I found another group and they decided they wanted to take the stairs (until the middle, because there are no staircases from the ground to the middle- just elevators). That is how I know that there are over 600 steps. Because I counted them along with my adopted group XD So yeah I thought this was something that would happen to Haruhi (obviously I changed it a lot so it was more original!)**

**Reviews would be amazing...really amazing! I know this sounds lame but they really inspire me! (^_^)**


	6. France Part Three

**And I'm back with chapter six hot off the press! Gosh I'm so grateful to all my wonderful reviewers- each and every one of you are so fantastic, I seriously love you all and thank you for your kind words. So, in thanks, have this super-ultra-mega-fluffy chapter! I realised I haven't written any truly one-on-one romantic scenes for Haruhi and Tamaki in a while and I did something a little bit more romantic than what I'm used to writing, with a dash of character development! But I really hope it turned out good for you guys! I really hope you enjoy it :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from my imagination.**

* * *

Chapter Six- France Part Three.

The car drive back to Anne Sophie-Sans home from Chez Rousseau's had put us in a rather sleepy mood, despite it not being very late at night- nine thirty pm judging from the clock on my phone. Regardless, by the time we pulled up to the front gate a comfortable silence had fallen on the group, the twins were stifling large yawns and Huni-Sempai had actually fallen asleep clinging to Usa-Chan, who had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere.

There was, however, one exception to our group of sleepy travellers- Tamaki was wide awake and chatting amiably with his mother, whilst I did my best not to fall asleep against his shoulder. In my drunk-on-food haze I didn't spot the signs that were I fully awake, would have caused me to be instantly alert and more than a little suspicious. Instead I just sat there in my content little stupor; only vaguely aware of a little niggling feeling in the back of my mind that there was something I was missing.

We all stumbled out of the car, mumbling goodnights to each other as we slipped off to bed. I smiled at the sweet image of a gently snoozing Huni-Sempai being carried off his room by Mori-Sempai, Usa-Chan clinging on too. Kyoya fixed his glasses and suggested everybody get a good night's sleep, as tomorrow afternoon we would be travelling down to the South of France, the French Riviera.

And so I went back to my room, flopping onto my bed, but not really ready for sleep quite yet. I'd managed to sneak a few books back into my suitcase after my dad repacked and took out all but one of them- excluding my tour guide books (and really I'd only brought along six of them, one for each week, which was hardly excessive). So, rummaging through the collection I bought along- which I admit was rather eclectic- everything from '_The Complete Works of Shakespeare'_ to '_A Young Lawyers Jungle Book: A Survival Guide'_, I decided to settle on a manga Mei-Chan had leant me. She said it was great for- and I quote- 'when you just want to give your brain a break from those crazies you insist on hanging out with.' It was one of those super-volumes that actually contained the first few books that were released to get me into the story- about a girl, jilted by her no-good musician boyfriend, deciding to get her revenge on him by entering show business and becoming more famous than he ever hoped to be. It was an intriguing topic; definitely different to the usual will-they-won't-they shoujo's that Mei-Chan often leant me. Bringing it up from the depths of my suitcase, I smiled to myself at the prospect of getting truly stuck into a good book- something I admit I hadn't had much time for recently.

And sure enough, just as I was about to settle back down into my pillows and flip open the hardback cover, fate intervened.

At first I thought it was a bird that had smacked against my window, causing me to jump so high I almost dropped the book. Then, once I heard the noise again, I realised that no bird would be stupid enough to hit my window twice. Curious, I closed the book and went to investigate, opening the window and stepping out onto the tiny little balcony beyond-

Only to be smacked in the face by a handful of small stones.

'Ouch! What the hell?' I cried rubbing my face where the stones struck and searching for the source of my injury. Turns out I didn't have to search for very long.

'Haruhi! I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?'

I gaped down in disbelief, for there amongst the tiny lily ponds, the azaleas and the rose bushes, stood my boyfriend- like he'd leapt straight out of my book of Shakespeare plays. The light from my room poured out onto the garden and, even from my elevated level, I could see his violet eyes lit up with concern but also the excitement that I now cursed myself for not focusing on earlier.

'Are you serious? Tamaki what are you doing throwing stones at my window at quarter-to-ten at night?' I hissed down at him, trying not to wake anybody up. Though right now, I wanted to do nothing more than to pick up the stones and throw them right back at him. Who knows? Maybe it would knock him out and I wouldn't have to even hear about whatever crazy plan he had in store.

_Ok, ok- knocking him out's a bit excessive_ I thought realising I was probably just grumpy that he'd interrupted my reading time...and thrown stones at my face. Albeit accidentally.

Still- it was tempting.

'I'm sorry.' He repeated, a little more softly once he realised I wasn't hurt. And maybe it was how he was just a little shy for a change, the small unsure smile and the nervous scratch of his head, but for some reason- my attention was caught far more than if he'd been spouting off like I'd expected him too. 'But- as it's our last night in Paris I thought we could sneak out on a date, just the two of us. I want to show you something.'

I opened my mouth to tell him that it probably wasn't the best idea to sneak out late at night to wherever he wanted to go, but one glance into his surprisingly humble yet hopeful face made me instead come out with- 'alright, just give me a minute and I'll meet you at the front door.'

At first his face lit up into that heart-stopping beam of his, but the realisation of the last part of my sentence made him return to the puppy pout that I had previously been expecting to show up. 'Aw but Haruhi, I thought it would be more romantic if you climbed down the vines to me, like in those old romantic films!' He replied expressively, gesturing to the wall of vines on the side of the wall right next to the balcony. I blanched.

'Have you completely lost your mind?' I replied before I realised he probably never had one to begin with. I turned away and started to go back inside. 'I am not doing that!'

'Oh Haruhi please! I promise it will be so romantic!'

'I'm going now; I'll meet you at the door.' I continued on, moving to close the balcony doors shut.

'Wait! I have fancy tuna!'

Despite the fact that I was still fairly full from dinner, this caused me to stop in my tracks. Turing my head slightly, I peeked out from behind the curtain with a slightly disbelieving expression.

'You...you what? You have fancy tuna?' I replied going back onto the balcony, both curious and suspicious. 'Why?'

'For you my love, isn't that obvious?' He replied presenting me with a little bento box he must have been hiding behind his back. I blinked at him. A number of questions popped into my head, first and foremost- where the heck did he get fancy tuna from? But then again this was Tamaki...

Tamaki- who earlier today ran halfway down the Eiffel Tower to make sure I was safe.

'The things you get me to do boggle my mind.' I sighed mostly to myself, rushing back into my room and throwing on a pair of flats and a jacket. Coming back out- my heart thumping a little- I started climbing over the swirling balcony railings and onto the climbing vines. I looked down, my nerve failing me for a split second when it suddenly seemed so much higher than when I was safe on the balcony.

'If I fall, will you catch me?' I asked looking down at my freakishly influential boyfriend (whom I was seriously thinking should take up a career as being either a hypnotist or some kind of motivational coach) trying to sound braver than I felt and failing miserably.

'Always' came the instant, unfailing reply that gave me courage to actually go through with this inane act.

My hands, shaking slightly, gripped hard onto the little gaps in the wood that allowed me to travel down in a sort of makeshift ladder. I lost my footing a few times and the vines kept snagging on my jacket. _Yeah this is SO ROMANTIC_ I grumbled inwardly, trying not to ruin the illusion for Tamaki- it would make him happy at least.

When I reached the bottom I hopped onto the soft grass, dusting myself off, pulling leaves out of my hair, and staring pointedly at Tamaki.

'Ok forget this one-time-offer of fancy tuna, for that you owe me an entire lifetimes supply.' I began but was silenced by his lips pressed against mine, his arms pulling me closer to him in a passionate burst of an embrace.

'You can have fancy tuna every day if you want it. Anything you want, it's yours.' He replied in a gentle whisper as he pulled away from the kiss, stroking my hand with his thumb and bringing it up to his chest, his head tilted with a smile so warm and loving all my anger at the situation went right out the window (no pun intended) and my face burned.

'I...I don't need it, not every day I mean.' I mumbled looking down at the floor. 'That'd be stupid.'

Tamaki laughed and pulled me along with him as we snuck out of the gardens and through the front gate onto the street, his eyes alight with glee so that I couldn't help but chuckle along with him.

'So, where is it that you're taking me?'

* * *

The night time breeze of a Parisian summer ruffled my hair, tickling the back of my slowly growing-out hair and causing me to shiver. I ignored this however, instead looking over at the very big and very locked iron gates in front of me- and then to my grinning boyfriend. As I finished the last of the promised-and-delivered fancy tuna, I couldn't help the frown that crossed my features.

'I don't really understand. We came to look at some locked gates?' I asked with a quizzical head tilt. What lay beyond was clearly some sort of park, the lights of the pathway behind the locked gates were still lit and illuminating bushes and benches and grass that rolled away into dark expanses of fields. But, as previously established, the park was locked. We couldn't go inside.

'Guess again _ma copine belle_.' Tamaki beamed taking my hand and pulling me off to a small side section where the fence was smaller- and that's when it clicked. Of course, when had something as mundane as a locked fence ever stopped the King of the Host Club?

'Oh no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no!' I cried panicking as he began stepping up onto the gate, gripping the iron bars as he prepared to climb over. 'Tamaki you realise what you're suggesting? Sneaking in to a locked public place? That's against the law, what if we get caught? We'd be arrested- I just got my passport! I don't want it taken away from me!'

He looked back at me with a devilish smirk which I was sure he must have picked up from the twins. I wondered for a brief moment if they'd talked him into this but decided against it- this insanity, this completely spontaneous romanticism- it was Tamaki all over.

'You know sometimes you've just got to get a little crazy. You can't go through your whole life sticking by the rules and laws every waking moment.' He winked down at me over his shoulder, hair slightly tousled. I did my very best to ignore that.

'That's a great argument to throw at someone who- oh I don't know- wants to be a lawyer one day!' I rolled my eyes.

'Oh, right, I didn't think of that.' Tamaki replied simply, still hovering on the fence. If anyone walked past us, guaranteed we'd be getting some strange looks. 'We'll if it makes you feel better I used to sneak in here all the time before I moved to Japan. The park officers who patrol at night know me.'

I buried my face in my hands, about to ask why he hadn't told me that before when I realised his words- not the breaking rules part but the going a little crazy part- may have made a little bit of sense. If I was going to be in this relationship for the long haul I was going to need to become a little more spontaneous or at least a little bit more flexible when it came to going along with Tamaki's spontaneous ideas. After all it's not little they were all bad, like the climbing down the balcony idea; some were actually pretty nice- like his idea to go to Stratford-upon-Avon.

Then suddenly, under the glow of the old fashioned street lamps, for the first time- I became afraid for my relationship with Tamaki. Struck, like somebody had poured a load of ice cold water down my throat and it was currently freezing in my stomach. Because what if I _wasn't_ spontaneous enough, what if Tamaki tired of me always being so boring and predictable?

What if he one day grew tired of _me_?

'Hey, are you ok?' Tamaki's head poked into my peripheral vision looking concerned. 'If you really are worried about it I don't mind taking you back home. We can have our date tomorrow morning when the park opens, whatever makes you more comfortable-'

And this time it was Tamaki that was silenced as I reached up to him, grabbing his shoulders, and pulled him down into a fierce but loving kiss. He was surprised at first, but responded enthusiastically, letting go of the fence with one arm and swooping down to capture my waist and pull me upwards, closer to him. That kiss was all I needed to make me realise that I was being stupid, like some kind of silly love-struck girl. Of course he wouldn't grow tired of me- if he hated my predictability he wouldn't have fallen in love with me in the first place. And I was getting better at going with the flow- as the twins often say.

Still it couldn't hurt to make some waves myself for a change.

I smiled fondly when I broke the kiss. 'We're here already aren't we?'

And with that I gently pushed past him and hopped over the fence with relative ease. By the time I'd climbed to the other side he was still frozen on the spot. I reached through the bars and gave him a short sharp poke in the shoulder. He looked over at me with a bemused expression- his face a little pink. I guess it was delayed reaction to the kiss- come to think of it that was probably the first time I'd done anything like that.

And a small (ok not that small) part of me sort of enjoyed his reaction.

'Hey, you're not going to stand me up on this date are you?' I grinned a little to show I was joking. That seemed to break him out of whatever reverie he was in and the next thing I knew he was right by my side, taking my hand and leading me back onto the calmly lit winding pathway as if his brain hadn't melted into goo mere moments ago.

Still holding his hand I looked up at him. 'So what park is this? I don't recognise it from my guide.'

'It's called the Buttes Chaumount Park. It's probably my favourite place to go in Paris. When I was younger once, mother took me here and there were a lot of couples kissing by the temple.'

'Temple?' I replied curiously, not remembering anything about there being any temples in Paris.

'Yes, there's a temple here based on one from Greece.' He clarified as we walked under what had to be hundreds of different species of trees, each with collective groups of ducks and moorhens cuddled up asleep underneath them. The lantern lights gave everything an almost mystical kind of glow- like Tamaki and I had a whole other world that was just ours for the night. 'Anyway I asked mother why so many people were kissing here and she said that this park was magical- that it was one of the most romantic spots in Paris and couples from all over the world come to express their love here. She said that when she and dad met, he took her here and kissed her and it was right then she knew that she'd always love him. Ever since then I always snuck in here after hours, when the park is still lit up, and just dreamed of the day when I could take the girl of my dreams here and kiss her too.'

I couldn't help the simultaneous grin and blush that crept onto my face as I imagined a young idealistic Tamaki dreaming of love and romance, whilst thousands and thousands of miles away I was sitting up late at night thinking of a day when I could fulfil my own dreams. It seemed so odd that two people who'd previously been a world away from each other had come together the way we did- completely by chance.

I was brought out of those musings when we rounded a corner and the pathway opened up. I couldn't help but gasp slightly at the sight before us- it really was like we'd stepped into another world. The traffic lights and sounds of the city were muted, completely unheard in this part of the park, only the sounds of crickets chirping and the occasional night bird singing could be heard- the trees also, rustling in the breeze. Before us was the large expanse of dark black shimmering water, the size of a small lake. At the opposite side of the lake stood a dramatic hill of rock jutting right out of the lakes waters. And there, on top of that cliff face- stood a small but prominent temple of tiny intricate archways and white marble, the white standing out completely against the vast blackness of the sky above. In a part of the city where the light pollution barely touched- the stars came out to make this picture slightly more...magical. From a distance I could hear the faint sounds rushing water. The smell of lake water and warm grass filled my nose and I felt completely at ease.

As I was trying to form the right words in my head to say to Tamaki, I felt him come up behind me- wrapping his arms around my waist and pull me against his chest. An involuntary hum of contentment escaped my lips and I closed my eyes just for a second, resting my head back against his chest. I then completely forgot what I was going to say.

I shivered slightly as I felt him lean down, his face nuzzling into the crook of my neck, and I wondered how that would feel once my hair grew longer. My musings on that didn't last however, as his lips began to lightly dust the sensitive spot just below my ear. I didn't even know that _was_ a sensitive spot.

'Tamaki?' I whispered as he continued his ministrations.

'Mm?' Came his reply, his hands pressed against my stomach harder, pulling me closer to him and I wondered when we had passed the point where intimate moments like this no longer became awkward or shy. Maybe this was it, maybe this was the moment.

Maybe I was over thinking things, as usual.

'Aren't you supposed to kiss me on the lips here?' I asked taking longer to form the words. He was making my brain turn a bit gooey, which was a weird sensation for someone like me- who generally always liked to keep her wits about her.

'I was.' He mumbled, lips still trailing down my neck. 'Your neck distracted me.'

'I can feel- see- I uhm...yeah I know.' At that point my brain had pretty much left the planet, if it hadn't I was pretty sure it would be wondering how a neck can be distracting (unless you're a vampire) and a blush was creeping all over my skin. It seemed to amuse Tamaki, as I heard him chuckle softly. His lips left my skin and I turned around in his grasp- placing my hands against his chest where my head had been seconds before.

We didn't need to say the words here, but as I looked at him, violet against hazel, I knew we were both thinking along the same lines. It was all we needed.

And so we both leaned towards each other and, for the third time that night, our lips met. His hands, still on my waist, were slowly rubbing their way up and down, as if my clothes weren't protecting me from the night time air. My own arms sneaked up from his chest to wrap around his neck and I found myself completely lost to this other world Tamaki had shared with me. It seemed to be something very precious, fragile, a moment in time that- whilst it lasted- seemed to go on forever, that afterwards would become something we would never forget.

And it was right then, as he kissed me under the watchful eye of the temple, the lake, Paris and the stars, that I realised that no matter what happened- no matter how crazy he made me, no matter how much I sometimes wanted to kill him- that I would always love him.

* * *

**Maybe a bit too cheesy? I don't know, I tried to make it so their relationship was developing, as was Haruhi's willingness to take a more active role! I hope that came across. Anyway I really hope you enjoyed reading and please review! It genuinely makes my day :) Until the next time! Xx**


	7. France Part Four

**I am so sorry that this was later than expected! I hope I made up for it with a super long chapter with all our favourite kinds of Host Club insanity plus a bit of wonderful fluff that us fanfic writers love. I wanted to get this up before my holiday, but I had some computer troubles (all fixed now) and so that meant a whole week of not writing! BOOO!**

**But like I said I'm back now, ready and raring to go! Hope you enjoy the last part of the France arc! After that we're off to Spain! (^_^) Thank you once again to all my reviewers, old and new! You are all wonderful and fantastic and I don't know what I do to deserve such wonderful praise!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Though I wish I could have a Tamaki- that'd be awesome!**

* * *

Chapter Seven- France Part Four.

'I do beg your pardon, but what do you mean when you say there's been a _mistake_?' Kyoya was saying with an icy undertone that suggested the hotel clerk would do well to tread _very_ carefully. The rest of us looked on, at the edges of the scene, apprehensively.

We'd had a lovely morning in Paris, having a very early breakfast with Anne Sophie-San before saying goodbye, getting her to promise to visit before she moved to Japan permanently, and making our way to the south of France. We decided to drive the eight hours there, stopping at random sights along the way, taking photos and enjoying a picnic of French delicacies (except for snails, everyone learned their lesson at Chez Rousseau's) the French countryside was full of extremes, sometimes flat as a pancake- sometimes full to the brim with rolling hills. Either way it was charming.

So we reached the hotel, a large pleasant-but-rich hotel on the waterfront overlooking the bay and marina of Saint Tropez- which is the town we had chosen to stay at in the French Riviera. According to my guide it was a well known tourist destination for celebrities the word over. As somebody who's quite out of touch with celebrity culture, this news didn't really impress me as much as it did the others (especially Tamaki who had been hoping he would spot stars of his favourite soap opera- as apparently they also liked to stay in the area). In fact this information caused me to groan a little, because if this was a hotspot for celebrities- guaranteed the prices for things would be through the roof. And I was already a little uncomfortable with the others paying for my hotel fees- especially with the hotels they chose, this one being another classic example.

But there were more pressing matters to do with hotels than my worries about being a mooch.

'Again I am very sorry Monsieur; it seems that there has been a technical error and instead of giving you seven single rooms, we have booked two twin rooms and one triple room instead.' The clerk replied looking thoroughly sorrowful whilst I was left dreading who I'd been paired with, every scenario seemed less ideal. _Mother in heaven if I'm paired with the twins, I'll be joining you shortly._

'So then, if there is a problem, fix it. Change it to give us seven single rooms.' Kyoya shot back as if the person was an idiot, yet he still had that polite tone of voice. It was amazing how he did that really. My heart leapt, hoping that the solution to this nightmare would be over quickly. That hope, unfortunately, was short lived as the clerk- an older man with greying sideburns- was shaking his head.

'I am afraid that all the other rooms have been booked, as it is such a popular hotel. However the rooms should become available in four nights time.' He added the last part rather hopefully. I fought the urge to groan.

'We won't be here in four nights time.' Kyoya narrowed his eyes and the clerks eyes widened, however he seemed to be trained for all circumstances and the brief flash of fear on his face was quickly removed. It was true we were only staying here two nights before travelling to Spain.

'In that case Monsieur, we would be happy to offer you a full refund should you choose to stay anywhere else. We are terribly sorry for this inconvenience, such things rarely happen.'

'Typical.' I murmured, just as Huni-Sempai slumped against Mori-Sempai's legs, sound asleep- finally giving in to the travelling exhaustion. Tamaki glanced down at the sleepy Lolita-type and heaved a small sigh.

'Kyoya, maybe it would be best if for tonight we stayed? It's probably too late to find another hotel and we're all tired.' He said calmly and rationally. I blinked, it never failed to surprise me when Tamaki was logical (probably because it happened so little). And I couldn't help but notice that whilst Kyoya may be skilled at imploring to Tamaki's childish side, Tamaki was just as good at imploring to Kyoya's practical side. I supposed that was why they worked so well as best friends, despite being complete opposites. They _knew_ each other.

'Yeah I agree with Tono.' Hikaru replied with a shrug. 'It's no big deal really, accidents happen- and I've been sharing a room with Kaoru every night since we were born. Doesn't bother us does it?' Hikaru glanced at his twin who shook his head sleepily, a small group of girls who in the queue for the hotel desk were swooning at his words. I rolled my eyes.

Kyoya pursed his lips slightly and glanced at me for a split second, as if trying to read my thoughts on the matter. I suppose being the only girl, my opinion would count for something- I noticed Tamaki looking at me too. Truth be told I didn't really mind too much if I was sharing with say Huni-sempai who was completely harmless, but I suppose it would seem a bit weird sharing with the others. I mean what if one of them saw me changing? I didn't mind the sleeping in the same room part, but all those other little things, those were bugging me a little.

Still if everyone was ok with it I certainly wasn't going to be the one to cause a fuss. So I smiled and nodded encouragingly. After all it was just for two nights. We could handle it.

* * *

I couldn't handle this.

Apparently the desk clerk had made YET ANOTHER error. Honestly you'd think such a top class hotel would be better organised. It turns out that the room I'd been assigned to was not, in fact a twin bedroom- oh no- of course not. After all, why be mildly inconvenient when they could be so terribly, utterly and horrendously incommodious?

No it was in fact, a double bedroom. That I was sharing. With Tamaki.

The door was slammed shut behind us by the bellboy who had carried our luggage with what- in my opinion- was a very inappropriate wink. I stared at our bedroom.

It was very light, modern and spacious, white gossamer curtains led to an ocean view balcony- in the dark of the night however only the lights from the boats in the marina and the distant sounds of the waves gave any indication that there was a world beyond this room. The bed however, was the thing drawing my (and Tamaki's) attention the most, frozen in shock at the sight before us. The _king sized bed _with white, fluffy, cloud-like duvet and pillows. It rested on a raised platform to the left of the room, surrounded by a canopy of wispy white fabric, covering the head of the bed.

It reminded me of a honeymoon suite. The thought made me nearly hyperventilate.

Tamaki was the first to recover. Walking over to the wardrobe next to the bathroom on the right hand side of the room, he peered inwards, searching for something.

'Ok there's a spare set of bed sheets in here. So I can sleep on the floor. You take the bed.' He replied, his voice slightly muffled as he rummaged through the wardrobe.

I stopped wanting to hyperventilate at the room, which looked like an offering from the gods for a couple on their wedding night, and turned towards Tamaki- who was still rummaging in the wardrobe.

'Huh? You're going to sleep on the floor?' I blinked. I almost asked why before I realised that was a very stupid question. Almost as stupid as the question I just asked.

Tamaki peered out from behind the wardrobe door, his blonde hair fell into his eyes as he did so, but this didn't conceal the serious expression etched onto his face. 'I pride myself on being a gentleman Haruhi, and I won't make you feel uncomfortable by sharing a bed with you before you're ready. Before we're both ready.' He added as an afterthought and then went back to the wardrobe. I caught a few phrases that he mumbled to himself, the most amusing being something about my father killing him if he found out.

I felt a rush of affection for him then and couldn't help the quiet smile creeping onto my face. Following him towards the wardrobe, I rested my hand on his shoulder to still him.

'You don't have to sleep on the floor. Scratch that I don't want you to sleep on the floor.' I replied gently. His face flashed red and I fought the two warring little beasts inside me- one which wanted to laugh, the other which wanted to grab him and thrust my lips against his.

'Haruhi...' He began unsure. I shook my head.

'It's ok, really. We can, I don't know, make a pillow barrier or something. Anyway I really don't want you to sleep on the floor, you'll get back problems.' I said matter-of-factly as if that made the discussion final. Leaning around him to grab a few extra pillows I walked over to the side of the bed closest to the window. I had a staring match with it for a moment, before I noticed Tamaki hadn't moved and looked back to him in what I hope was an encouraging manner. 'Look, it's just for two nights. It's fine as long as we're practical. Besides, it's not like you're going to try and take advantage right?' I grinned a little to show I was joking but apparently this didn't help. He actually turned redder.

'Of- of course not!' He spluttered indignantly, stomping over to the other side of the bed and picking up some of the pillows I'd brought from the wardrobe. I chuckled at his tone. He locked eyes with me and added 'well I won't if you won't.'

I stopped laughing immediately.

'And what that's supposed to mean?'

He cocked his head with that arrogant smirk of his. 'Well of course, sleeping next to such a perfect specimen, it's only natural that you'd feel tempted.' He elaborated running his hand through his hair. I gaped.

'I will NOT!' I replied in the same tone he'd used just moments before. How quickly the tables had turned. His smile, if possible, became even more smug.

'You will so, and it's perfectly alright, but Haruhi you must not give in to your urges.' He winked at me, wagging his finger from side to side, with that princely look that caused so many Host Club guests to fall in love with him. Right now it was making me want to kill him.

However, I decided killing him wasn't the most fun course of action I could take._ Fight fire with fire._

'Oh you're right I suppose.' I heaved a great false sigh with a melancholy tone. 'It would be hard to fight those kinds of...urges.' I began sliding my way over to his side of the bed, noticing that he was watching me like a hawk- with ever widening eyes. 'But then again, what if I did want to give into those urges? I mean, I know we're both young but still- it's like you said. We're going to be together forever. Why don't we make forever start tonight?' I kept my voice low, in what was hopefully a seductive tone (I don't know, I'd never talked like that before- but Mei-Chan had insisted she teach me how to flirt once I started dating Tamaki, though that hadn't ended well). _What did she say I was supposed to do here? Oh yeah, tip my head down and look up through my eyelashes. I bet I look like an idiot._

It was a long time before Tamaki spoke again, but to my enjoyment he'd gone red again. I was starting to understand why he did this so often to me. When he finally spoke, it sounded like his voice had gone through a coffee strainer. 'H-Haruhi' He gulped. 'W-what are you saying?'

I stepped so close to him that we were almost chest to chest, grinning slyly up at him I noticed his breathing had become rather ragged.

'I'm saying...' I replied as I brought the hand behind my back up slightly and returned back to my normal voice tone 'that you should be way less gullible.' And with that I promptly smacked him around the head with the pillow I'd been concealing. 'Idiot.' I grinned in triumph at his completely flabbergasted expression and turned to walk away.

That was until I felt a pillow thwack against the back of my head. I span around and there was Tamaki, standing with two pillows in hand- a challenging grin on his face.

'That was mean. I'm going to get you back for that.' He stated simply. I returned the smirk, picking up a pair of pillows myself. Normally I didn't care for any kind of juvenile challenge like this one but what can I say? Tamaki brought out the childish side of me sometimes, the side I didn't even know still existed.

'You can try.' I shot back. And so a fierce pillow fight began. Tamaki seemed to be holding back from hitting me hard and I took advantage of that, beating him squarely in the chest. But I realised I'd been caught out as he easily wrestled the pillow away from me, leaving me with only one pillow to defend myself with. I ran toward the other side of the bed to place a barrier between us but he followed.

What happened next was probably inevitable.

Tamaki tripped on the step that led up to the raised platform, crashed into me, and pair of us went flying onto the bed, breathing heavily, rolling into the plush white depths of the duvet, me landing on top of him.

It took us a few moments to recover but once we'd both got a bearing on the situation, I realised just how incriminating a position we were in if any of the others were to walk in. The atmosphere seemed to change instantly, the air crackled and fizzed with electricity. My arms lay at either sides of his head, half propping me up, our legs were tangled together, our chests rested against each other. Wide hazel eyes were locked into wide violet ones. Neither of us seemed to be breathing.

Tamaki reached up and brushed some hair away from my face, cupping my cheek. I inhaled sharply. This felt different. He'd done that before, but never had goosebumps appeared _all_ over my body, tingling and tickling until a shiver ran up my spine. I leaned into his touch.

A knock at the door broke the spell and the next second we were at complete opposite sides of the bedroom. I fixed my hair, trying to calm my pounding heart as Tamaki answered the door. I wasn't listening very hard, but I definitely noted Kyoya's disapproving tone. They exchanged a few words and then Tamaki closed the door. Ambling back into the room he caught my curious eye with a slightly amused but awkward smile.

'Kyoya says if we want to continue our pillow fight then we should buy a soundproof house.' He explained.

Any tension felt from the previous moment was gone as I burst out laughing. Then, realising my mistake, I tried to muffle my chuckles with a pillow.

'I guess it is a little late for those kinds of games.' I agreed peering over the top of the fluffy rectangle as he walked over and sat on the other side of the bed, watching me with a now content grin on his face. 'What?'

'Nothing I just...I hope every night with you is like this.' He said and he sounded so hopeful and happy that I felt another rush of affection for him.

'What, you mean with Kyoya yelling at us for having a pillow fight?' I shot back dryly. He laughed in response.

'No I just hope we're happy like this every night. We should never go to bed angry at each other.' He elaborated with a sort of finality that showed he was both serious and happy at the prospect of a future together.

Personally I thought, with somebody like Tamaki as a life partner, that was quite an ambitious goal- but I didn't say that. Instead I continued to smile, got up and told him I was going to get ready for bed.

The second the bathroom door was closed, the dread started to set in. It was like the bedroom was another world the bathroom wasn't a part of, and the cold dead weight of reality was seeping into me, causing me to panic. What was causing me to panic? Something completely stupid of course.

Tamaki had never seen me in my pyjamas before.

Then another thought even worse stepped into my train of thoughts. I had never seen Tamaki in his pyjamas before, well not like this...wait what if he didn't wear pyjamas? What if he normally wore just his underwear to bed, or went to bed topless? I'd seen him topless before and topless when he'd been sick in bed but this was different! He'd had a fever, and I hadn't been sharing a bed with him then!

All this was starting to make me feel dizzy, so I decided to focus on just getting dressed for bed instead and forget what Tamaki would think. After all they were simple pyjamas, a navy blue vest top with matching chequered trousers- they were new too, bought specifically for the holiday because my dad had this weird superstition that you should buy new pyjamas every time you go away from home (personally I thought that was just an excuse to buy me cute new clothes).

After I'd finished getting ready for bed I reached for the handle, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

I nearly fainted with relief when I noticed Tamaki wearing a white t-shirt and light grey sweatpants. He was lying on the bed reading my anthology of Shakespeare plays (I leant it to him so he could read something whilst travelling). It looked so domesticated, so normal, like we did this sort of thing every day. It was only how the whole situation made me feel that suggested it was completely out of the ordinary for us, completely new ground.

I cleared my throat shyly. 'The- uhh- the bathrooms free now.'

Tamaki glanced up and I suddenly felt like I was on display. I felt so exposed, which was odd considering what I was wearing was very modest. I shuffled awkwardly on the balls of my feet, and looked down. Something inside me flared up furiously, the same part that had presented itself in London, when the twins had dressed me up that first night. It shouted that I shouldn't care what he thought, that it didn't matter- but that part was drowned out and barely within earshot now. I was so at war with myself that I didn't notice Tamaki had left the bed and was walking past me, toothbrush in hand, before he leaned down and patted my head.

'You are the most adorable girl I've ever seen.' He said fondly, causing my face to flush, but fortunately the bathroom door closed and he didn't see the big, annoyingly cheesy smile reaching from practically ear-to-ear.

* * *

It was early morning, the sun rising ever higher in the sky and the bluish haze around the Marina hadn't quite left yet. I sat with my legs dangling over the edge of the boardwalk, listing to the waves bump against the pristine white ships.

It'd taken me a long time to fall asleep, and when I'd finally fallen into sleep it was a light one. I'd woken up to find the pillow wall in shambles. Somehow, in the night, the pair of us had managed to fight our way across it and into each other's embrace. I'd been tucked into Tamaki's side, his arm wrapped firmly around my waist.

Though I was actually rather reluctant to do so, finding it insanely comfortable by his side, I'd moved off to side of the bed and checked the time. Deciding that I probably wasn't going to fall asleep again, I got up and dressed for the day as quickly and quietly as I could, wrote Tamaki a note which I left on his face (because I knew he'd panic the second he saw I was missing otherwise and wouldn't bother to check for notes on dressers before he'd caused an uproar), and left to take a walk. That was how I'd wound up right in the heart of the marina, watching the sunrise for the past hour or so, eating a freshly made croissant the chef in the restaurant gave me when I poked in to see what time they opened.

'Oh I'm sorry; I didn't know there was someone else here.' Came a male voice behind me in accented English. I turned around.

A Japanese man with black hair and green eyes was standing just behind me; he seemed apologetic but smiled when he took in my appearance. He was about very tall, taller even than Mori-Sempai, and was dressed in what I assumed was fashionable clothing, it definitely looked expensive.

'Oh you're Japanese too!' He continued brightly, switching to our native language. 'Anyway like I said, didn't mean to bother you. Do you want an autograph or something? Most people do!' He laughed to show he wasn't being serious. I blinked up at him.

'You're not bothering me.' I replied with a shrug, brushing some crumbs off of my top. 'Are you famous or something?'

He stopped laughing and stared at me in surprise.

'You mean you don't know who I am? Wow, that's a nice change. May I join you?' He said and before I answered, he came and swung his legs down over the edge of the dock, they dwarfed my own.

'So who are you?' I asked hoping to sound polite when I was actually very curious, and also very certain I wasn't acting how anybody normal would act in these circumstances. The man was certainly very handsome and I could imagine that, if he was famous, he was hounded by girls on a daily basis.

'Oh, my name is Hitoshi Hasimoto. I'm an actor on the Japanese drama, "The Heartlands". It's nice to meet you...'

'Haruhi Fujioka.' I supplied for him, suddenly remembering something. 'Sorry for not knowing who you are, I don't normally watch soap operas, but my boyfriend Tamaki watches your show, I think it's one of his favourites if I'm remembering right.'

'Oh that's nice.' He replied leaning back and looking out at the sea. 'It's odd, I didn't think I was going to be recognised here, but apparently this is a place where a lot of famous people go. So people seem to be extra-watchful for any kind of celebrity. Not that I'd really count myself as a celebrity, just a fairly well-known actor really!' He added with a cheerful chuckle. I grinned.

'Maybe next time you go on holiday you should go somewhere more obscure.' I suggested and he nodded quite vigorously. I checked my watch. 'I should probably be getting back, my group are supposed to meet in the hotel lobby in a few minutes. But it was nice to meet you.'

'It was a pleasure to meet you too Haruhi Fujioka-San!' He said as I moved to walk away, but then stilled, turning back to meet his happy-go-luck expression.

'Actually, Hasimoto-San, is it too late to take you up on the offer for an autograph?'

He grinned and was about to reach into his pocket to take out what I assumed was something to write the autograph on when a loud squeal attracted our attention.

'OH MY GOD! IT'S HITOSHI HASIMOTO! OVER THERE!'

I was rooted to the spot in absolute horror, my eyes fixed to the opposite end of the dock. For there, blocking our way out, were about a dozen fan girls- closely followed by a few paparazzi members. Some of them had looks on their faces that reminded me of those Wild Planet television shows, where the predators are just about to attack their prey. The rest had looks like they'd been hit around the head with a love-stick. I didn't know which made me more nervous. All I knew was that they were running straight at us and the only escape was the ocean below.

'Come on!' Hasimoto-san cried leaping to his feet and taking my hand.

'Come where?' I yelled as he yanked me to the side, though I realised what he was doing just as I said it.

'JUMP!' He yelled and I found myself thinking that I didn't really have much choice, with the way he was pulling me along. And so, like we were in some kind of action movie, the pair of us began leaping from boat to boat, slipping and sliding as they rocked violently- trying desperately to keep moving and stay upright simultaneously. A brief glance behind told me that the group were following us parallel along the street. I slipped and nearly fell backwards with a yelp, but Hasimoto kept on pulling until I was upright.

We finally reached another boardwalk, on the far side of the marina- one side filled by ocean and boat, the other resting against a high wall that framed the marina. But the group were already running down the boardwalk, and we were once again blocked. It seemed there was no way out except ocean, we were about to get mugged by crazy fan girls and there was no way out!

'Hasimoto-san we're trapped! What do we do? Hasimoto-san?' I looked behind me and to my great surprise, he'd disappeared. For a wild moment I thought he'd jumped into the ocean below and started looking furiously for a mop of black hair amongst the deep, perfect blue.

'Haruhi-Chan! Up here!'

I glanced up and there, sure enough, there was Hasimoto-san, on top of the wall. Instinctively, I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me up to the top. Without a second thought, we went flying down the streets, darting in and out of side alleys, dodging collisions with cars and pedestrians and trying not to stumble in the gaps of the cobbled streets until we were sure we'd lost the mob.

I slumped against the wall of a patisserie, gasping for breath and clutching a stitch in my side. Hasimoto-san was peering down the street, hand raised to his sweaty brow, to check to coast was definitely clear. When he was sure it was same, he ambled over to where I was resting.

'Woah! Definitely didn't expect something like that! Maybe I should hire a body guard or something!' He panted, seeming torn between amusement and bewilderment at what had just occurred. I raised my eyebrow.

'Well you are a celebrity. Obviously you're more popular then you first let on, or that wouldn't have happened.' I replied bluntly once I'd gained my breath back. And with that breath came slight panic, as I had absolutely no idea where I was and how to get back to the hotel. I glanced at my watch. I was already ten minutes late, any longer and the Host Club would go into a panic. Scratch that, they were probably already in a panic.

I took out my phone, grateful it hadn't fallen out of my pocket during that odd marina chase, and wrote out a text to Tamaki.

'_Sorry I'm late, be there soon. Had breakfast already, so don't wait for me, I'll explain later. It's a surprise.'_

It was about five seconds later that I got a text back.

'_OK. Come back soon! Want a good morning kiss LOL ;-) Looking 4ward to surprise! Love you :-D XXX'_

I rolled my eyes, but at the same time couldn't help the fond smile that graced my lips at his moronic text speak. I shook my head, now wasn't the time for romantic daydreams! That was Tamaki's job anyway, right now I had to be _practical,_ if I was ever going to find my way back to the hotel that is.

'Hashimoto-san' I began 'do you know your way back to the marina from here without going the action-packed route?'

He blinked and then let out a short bark of laughter that reminded me of a dog, in a good way. 'As much as I think the "action-packed route" is quite fun- I do, I memorized a map of the town on my way here. Are you late to meet your group? Well that's my fault! Don't worry I'll take you back, just follow me.' He talked about a mile a minute and I was torn between finding this enduring and confusing. But before I could ponder on that he was off and I had to hurry to keep up.

We got to the hotel just as the Host Club was leaving the breakfast room. Chatting amiably amongst themselves and attracting a lot of attention from females of all ages. The twins looked like they were teasing Tamaki about something. Nothing new then.

'Oh there you are Haruhi! What happened? You look like you've been running.' Tamaki asked brightly and curiously, slipping his hand into mine.

'Why did you go running in jeans and a vest top?' Hikaru asked with a raised eyebrow, as if he thought I'd made a stupid fashion choice.

'I didn't go running, well I did but I didn't mean too, it's sort of a long story.' I shot back in the same tone, a dry expression on my face. Too much had happened this morning and I really didn't feel like having a fashion lesson on top of everything.

'I can explain. It's my fault that your friend was late to meet you this morning.' Hasimoto-san piped up stepping into view and the whole group stared in shock- none more so than Tamaki. 'I bumped into her whilst we were having breakfast and before we knew it we were running away from a mob of fans! So... sorry about that!' He chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his messy black head. The Host Club continued to be star-struck.

'So yeah, surprise.' I said prodding Tamaki in his side and snapping him out of it. There staring was bordering on being rude.

I also made a mental note to question just when _everyone_ had started watching soap operas, as Tamaki, Huni-Sempai and the twins went up to Hasimoto-san to ask for autographs. Kyoya caught my eye and raised his eyebrow. I shrugged in response.

But I supposed my questions could wait until later.

* * *

**So did you like? Did you hate (I hope you didn't hate!) only one way for me to find out and that's if you review! Please and thank you! (^_^) Love to all!**


	8. Spain Part One

**Whew! Ok I know I promised to get chapters out more regularly, but as it's my senior year in college AND I'm currently studying abroad for a semester- it's been a little difficult to find time to write :( which is sad. But I am in Hawaii right now- which is good! XD  
**

**I hope this super-duper fluffy chapter with relationship development makes it up to you. It's the sort of thing I genuinely think would affect these guys early on in their relationship (tamaharu I mean)  
Anyway enjoy! **

Chapter 8- Spain Part One

It was like a scene from the middle ages. The aged and jagged cliff faces jutted from the sea, glowing formidably in the setting sun. The beach stretched eternally, for miles and miles, so empty it made me seem like I was the first person ever to step foot on it. Everything was so remote, so isolated, and I was having a hard time figuring out how the Host Club had picked something so out-of-the-way from their usual hustle and bustle, as well as their love of grandeur.

Perhaps it was the idea of the man whom I was currently avoiding like the plague. It seemed like his idea. He probably thought it was romantic and mysterious. And as usual, wherever they went I followed... for the most part.

Only at that precise moment in time, I was sitting huddled on the remote O Rostro beach in Cape Finisterre, Spain, watching the sun go down and trying to forget what had happened a few hours before. The beautiful blue Bay of Biscay lay flat as a disc in front of me, apart from the tiny breaking waves the came crashing into the shore. The tide was coming in, taunting me, telling me to go back and fix what had happened. I stubbornly denied the seas request.

'Well.' A voice came from behind me, causing me to leap out of my seating position with about as much grace as a startled kitten. 'I take it that went well.'

I didn't need to turn around to recognise the gentle sarcasm in my interrupters voice, so I stayed put.

The youngest Hitachiin twin sat next to me, I could feel his eyes on me but I didn't look back, continuing to hug my knees and bury the lower half of my face into my arms. I was fully aware that I was pretty much sulking, but I didn't want to do a thing about it. Kaoru's presence was already making the heat rush back to my face whilst I relieved the day's events.

'Wow, this has got to be the most childish I've ever seen you look.' He said after a brief silence. I bristled at that.

'And who are you to call me childish? Anyway I'm embarrassed, is there a law against being embarrassed?' I shot back.

'Hooray she speaks!' Kaoru replied and there was another moment of silence as I glared at him and turned back to look at the ocean once I thought enough about it. 'Seriously though, do you want to talk about it?'

'Not really.' I mumbled.

'You know Kyoya would tell me if I asked, considering he was there to witness it. But I decided to come here and ask you directly, considering I sorta feel responsible.' He goaded gently and I felt rather than saw him shrug sheepishly. I sighed.

'It's not your fault. You were just trying to give me the courage to do something I already knew I wanted to try.' I sighed again, rubbing my temples. 'Though I don't know why I bothered, I clearly don't have a romantic bone in my body.' I buried my head in my arms with a groan of frustration. I'd never tried my hardest at something and yet failed so miserably, normally I succeeded in things I put my all into- but this...this was completely new to me.

It all started about an hour before we were due to leave France. I'd slowly been coming to the conclusion that Tamaki and I were so different when it came to matters of romance that he'd probably get fed up if I didn't do something on roughly the same level. I needed to do something to show that I appreciated the things he did for me, even if I didn't necessarily like all of them (some of his more over the top plans came to mind).

That was when Kaoru caught me at an internet cafe researching how to be more romantic on the internet. After he'd picked himself off the floor from laughing so hard, and nursing a bruise from where I hit him with my carry-on bag, he'd actually encouraged me to stop approaching it in my usual studious way. Instead he explained rather astutely that I had to think about who Tamaki is as a person, if I wanted to do something to make him happy. So after hours and hours of painful deliberation I'd finally decided on what to do.

How was I to know that I would fail so utterly and completely?

'That's not true; your version of romance is just different.' Kaoru replied and I could tell he was rolling his eyes. I huffed. 'Haruhi I never thought you were someone that needed things spelt out for you, you're lucky you got the more patient twin with you right now. Hikaru would be calling you a dumbass.'

'I am NOT a dumbass.' I cried getting more and more irritated as the conversation continued.

'No you're not, but you _are_ acting like one.' He reasoned fairly. I huffed. 'Seriously though, you may not realise it, but when you don't think about it so hard, you can be romantic. Like remember the time you went back to how you looked before you met us? So that it would be easier for Tamaki to put us to one side and deal with his family problems? You may not realise it but that was romantic. If you've told our guests about that, they would've been totally _moe_.'

For the first time, I stretched out of my huddled position. I looked over at his face to see if I could detect the usual mischievous glint in his eyes when he was teasing me. But there was nothing to be found.

'I never thought about it like that.' I stated with a surprise tone.

'That's my point. You really get in your head too much Haruhi, stop thinking so much and just do what you think. After all, he knows you; he's already fallen in love with you. If you want to do more romantic things just do them in a way you'd feel comfortable, in a way that's more _you_. And stop being so neurotic.'

'I'm not being neurotic, I'm just...I mean I was just worried. But, you've made me feel a little bit better. I guess I was being a little stupid.'

'Well look who you have for a boyfriend. The idiotness must be infectious.' Kaoru replied chuckling at that. I rolled my eyes.

'You're one to talk, idiotness isn't even a real word.'

'Blah blah blah, so come on- I've cheered you up, tell me what happened! If you don't I'll just ask Kyoya.' Kaoru replied with a wave of his and I came to the conclusion that the younger Hitachiin twin is very much a gossip monger.

'Ugh fine, fine I'll tell you. But afterwards will you leave me alone? I just want to forget it ever happened ok?' I conceded with a massive sigh that rivalled my earlier ones.

'Fine I promise, just tell me, is it really that bad?'

'You could sound less eager.' I rolled my eyes. 'But, in my opinion, yes it is that bad.' I took a deep breath and began to prepare for the onslaught of laughter. 'Well my idea to do something romantic and spontaneous for Tamaki was to... to get dressed up and go for a stroll on the beach at sunset. I know that's something he always wanted to do with me, so that's what I decided.'

'Ah.' Kaoru nodded. 'So that explains the makeup and the dress. You're getting better at that by the way. I'm so proud of you; you could actually pass for a girl nowadays.'

I stared at him for five seconds before getting up. The wind picked up the skirts of my rose-white coloured dress and I pressed it down with a casual flip of my hands.

'Right. I'm leaving.' I replied and began walking away.

'Wait Haruhi I'm sorry! That was insensitive, come on tell me what happened after you got all dressed up!'

'No you know what? Go ask Kyoya.' I shot back turning my head away with a stubborn tilt. 'I don't care anymore I-'

I stopped mid-sentence as I turned around and came face to face with the very source of my embarrassment. He stood before me, panting slightly as if he'd run right from the hotel to where I was, his white shirt was un-tucked and the bottom few buttons were undone, his collar was ruffled- his hair was a mess and there were still a few tiny specks of blood around his nose, although they were now dry. Despite the last part, it felt like I was choking on my own heart and an involuntary shiver went up my spine. Apart from when he was sick, I'd never seen him look so unkempt and the effect on me was strange and new and- well- kinda exhilarating. A jumble of emotions really, but all of them good. He was normally so well dressed, so elegant, that seeing him look all flustered was kind of fun and thrilling. I wanted to see that look more often, I wanted to be the cause of him having that look (_woah where is this coming from, since when do I think like this?_)

Somewhere in my peripheral vision, I noticed Kaoru sneaking off with a wide grin on his face. As he passed us by however, he turned around and called out,

'You know you're both perfect for each other, as you're both completely scarily smart, and yet terrifyingly dense at the same time!' And with that he headed back to the hotel, with a flick of his wrist in salute.

At that time, neither of us heard him.

* * *

'How's your head?' I asked, eventually breaking the silence. I had gestured for him to sit by me in my previous sulking spot.

'Oh, that? Yeah it's- it's fine.' He replied reaching up to the back of the aforementioned sore spot.

'Good, but here you still have a bit of blood on your nose' I replied reaching up with a handkerchief and wiping away the last tiny remnants of his earlier nose bleed. He blushed as my fingers brushed against his cheek and I felt a flutter in my chest. It was odd, having the ability to make someone feel the exact same way they make you feel. It gives you a weird sense of power- but not in an egotistical way, it's like it's a gift that you have to protect and not squander or take advantage of. It makes you feel- for lack of a less cheesy word- special.

_Ugh this whole love stuff makes me think the most ridiculous things..._  
Just as I was off on another of my mental tangents, Tamaki took the hand I was using to wipe his face and gently caressed it. The sun was starting to really set now, and it made his eyes a deeper shade of purple. It was here that I felt the need I had to speak up.

'I'm sorry.' The both of us said at the same time.

'For what?' Again- both of us.

'For earlier.' I groaned as we once again copied each other at the exact same time, but Tamaki began to laugh, his laugh that he saved just for me, the one where he completely shakes from head to toe in mirth- and throws his head back as he chuckles. I poked his side.

'Seriously, you don't have to apologize, I'm the one that showed up at your door dressed like an idiot and wanting to do some stupid spontaneous sunset walk.' I replied cringing at the memory.

'Hey! That's my girlfriend you're talking about, you look beautiful, and that sunset idea was amazing, _I_ ruined it by passing out with a nosebleed!' He replied blushing again. The memory of the whole scene flashed in front of me, Tamaki's face frozen in shock, Kyoya's eyebrow raised in mild interest, before he just fell backwards like a plank of wood- blood spurting out of his nose on the way down, me running the hell away from the scene of my crime.  
'I can't believe Kyoya saw it, and had to wake you up.' I replied burying my face in my hands. 'That's blackmail material for life- and just when I became debt free of the Host Club too.'  
'If anything he'd blackmail me, what kind of a man passes out by their girlfriend making a romantic proposition?' Tamaki sulked, looking on the verge of setting up a mushroom-growing station.

'The kind of man who has a girlfriend that's so incompetent with this whole love stuff that she's kind of...freaked out that her boyfriend is gonna get bored of her, or fed up with her, because I'm...I'm not...well, I'm not' I hated how vulnerable I suddenly sounded 'well, good enough.'

And suddenly a blanket of silence swooped over the fire of our conversation, making it go ka-put. The wind picked up, the sea continued to heave- in and out- a random seagull cawed. I half expected crickets and tumbleweed to join the scenario. It took me about 0.00001 seconds to realise I'd opened my big fat stupid mouth and now he was just staring out to sea with a frown on his face. I sighed, hating my vulnerability.

After what felt like an eternity, Tamaki began to speak.

'You know it's ok to talk to me if you're worried about things like this, it's ok to open up to me, I'm not going to bite or think you're stupid- although what you just said is probably the stupidest thing I've ever hear you say- but that doesn't _make_ you stupid.'

I scrunched my nose up, not really knowing how to feel about his calm voice or what he meant when he said that, so I let him continue. Suddenly he turned and looked at me, in that sharp way he did sometimes that always caught me off guard and made my stomach twist in knots.

'Haruhi I want you to promise me you'll never think that I'll get bored of you, EVER. Or fed up. I'm sure we'll have disagreement sometimes, but on the soap operas I watch- couples that make up after are fight are even more in love than before, so I don't really care about that, as long as we _talk_ to each other, as long as we don't keep things bottled up. I love you Haruhi, and that won't ever change, no matter what you do. I just want you to say what you feel, and do what you want to do. If you want to walk on the beach with me at sunset than we can, if you think it's too cheesy then we can just do something else. Truth is I was getting a bit worried that you'd get fed up with me and my love of big grand gestures, but I've been trying to tone it down, as you've seen.'

'You don't have to do that.' I said as I rested my head on his shoulder, and I instantly felt him relax against me. Although I'd probably live to regret those words, I went on 'I want you to be yourself and much as you want me to be myself. Yeah ok sometimes you can go over the top, and sometimes I can be a bit too down to earth, but those are part of the reasons why we fell in love with each other right? Opposites attract and all that.'

'Yeah, opposites attract.' He agreed and I could feel, and hear, rather than see him smile- as he turned and kissed the top of my head.

'But I will make more of an effort to talk to you if anything bothers me. Ok?'  
'Good, although I don't know about you, but I'm done with the talking portion of the evening.' He said in that cheeky tone of voice he gets when he's half teasing me and half serious. He leaned over and tilted my chin up to kiss me- just as the last ray of light sunk below the horizon.

Funnily enough, I agreed with him.

* * *

**Reviews cure my homesickness, as I'm currently 8000 miles away from my hometown. Also I love to hear opinions and don't forget to tell me where you want them to go! :D Next up: more of Spain and the Host club get themselves into a whole heap of trouble when they're once again in the wrong place at the wrong time!**


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